^P.lf.b-U 


Srom  t^e  fet6rarg  of 

(|)rofe6Bor  Wtfftdm  J^^^^  (Breen 

QSequeat^b  fig  ^im  to 
f^e  feifirari?  of 

(Princeton  C^eofogtcaf  ^eminarj? 


V,  3 


THE 


HISTORY 


CHURCH  OF  CHRIST. 

VOLUME  THE  THIRD. 

CONTAINING 

THE  SIXTH,  SEVENTH,  EIGHTH,  NINTH,  TENTH, 
ELEVENTH,  AND  TWELFTH,  CENTURIES. 

TO  WHICH  IS  ADDED, 

THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  WALDENSES 

TO 

THE  REFORMATION. 


BY  THE  REV.  JOSEPH  MILNER,  M.  A. 
Master  of  the  Grammar  School  in  Kingston  upon  Hull, 


PUBLISHED  BY  FARRAXD,  MALLORY  AND  CO.  BOSTOX 
1809. 


PREFACE. 

If  the  real  church  historian  find  it  a  difficult  task,  to 
extract  a  connected  view  of  his  peculiar  subject  from 
the  ecclesiastical  materials  of  the  fourth  and  fifth  cen- 
turies, that  difficulty  is  multiplied  a  hundred  fold, 
while  he  labours  through  the  long  and  gloomy  period, 
which  in  the  present  volume  engages  his  attention. 

Impressed,  however,  with  the  certain  truth  of  the 
declaration  made  by  the  divine  author  of  Christianity, 
"  that  the  gates  of  hell  shall  never  prevail  against  his 
church,"  I  have  endeavoured  all  along  to  discover  her 
actual  existence.  How  far  I  have  succeeded,  the  reader 
must  determine  for  himself.  If  the  fundamental  doc- 
trines of  the  gospel  have  not  been  exhibited,  both  as 
professed  in  various  parts  of  the  world,  and  as  pro- 
ductive of  those  fruits  of  holiness,  which  are  peculiarly 
christian,  my  aim  has  been  missed,  and  the  grand  de- 
sign of  the  whole  narration  has  failed.  But  I  hope  the 
scriptural  reader  will  see  the  lineaments  of  the  church 
pervading  these  dark  centuries;  provided  he  divest 
himself  of  all  partial  regards  for  sects  and  denomina- 
tions, ages  and  countries,  and  attend  exclusively  to 
the  marks  and  evidences  of  genuine  Christianity.  This 
is  the  right  frame  of  spirit,  which  the  subject  before 
us  requires;  and  it  is  what  I  have  steadily  endeavoured 
to  preserve. 

Tros  Rutulusve  fuat,  nullo  discrimine  habebo. 

In  the  former  part  of  the  volume,  Gregory  I.  of 
Rome,  and  the  English  christians,  will  be  found  ob- 
VoL.  III.  2 


VI  PREFACE. 

jects  deserving  our  serious  attention.  Nor  should  wc 
be  prejudiced  against  the  real  church,  because  she 
then  wore  a  Roman  garb.  Undoubtedly  she  was  by 
this  means  much  defiled  with  superstition;  for  that 
was  as  much  the  predominant  evil  of  those  times,  as 
profaneness  is  of  our  own.  The  last  mentioned  evil 
admits  of  no  coalition  with  christian  holiness;  but  su- 
petstition,  to  a  certain  degree,  may  coexist  with  the 
spirit  of  the  gospel.  When  that  degree  is  exceeded, 
and  general  idolatry  takes  place,  the  system  then  be- 
comes too  corrupt,  to  deserve  the  name  of  the  church 
of  Christ.  I  have  marked  this  limit  to  the  best  of  my 
judgment  in  the  course  of  this  history,  have  exhibited 
the  MAN  OF  SIN  matured  in  all  his  gigantic  horrors, 
and  from  that  epocha  I  despair  of  discovering  the 
church  in  the  collective  body  of  nominal  christians. 
Every  reader  will  observe  the  various  features  of  an- 
tichrist described  in  this  volume,  and  some  may  per- 
haps be  enabled  to  form  a  more  distinct  and  adequate 
conception  of  the  nature  of  popery,  than  they  had 
before  acquired. 

Leaving  therefore  the  general  church  of  Rome, 
after  she  had  ceased  entirely  to  hold  the  head,  I 
either  travel  with  faithful  missionaries  into  regions  of 
heathenism,  and  describe  the  propagation  of  the  gos- 
pel in  scenes  altogether  new,  or  dwell  with  circum- 
stantial exactness  on  the  lives  and  writings  of  some 
particular  individuals,  in  whom  the  Spirit  of  God 
maintained  the  power  of  godliness,  while  they  remain- 
ed "  in  Babylon."  The  former  object  displays  one  of 
the  brightest  prospects  of  this  whole  period,  and  seems 
to  rebuke  the  supineness  of  modern  times,  in  regard 
to  the  extension  of  divine  truth  among  pagan  nations: 
the  latter,  I  trust,  will  be  found  to  afford  matter  of 
christian  instruction.  The  pleasure  and  benefit,  which, 
as  I  have  repeatedly  heard,  has  been  derived  from  the 


PREFACE.  VU 

perusal  of  Augustin's  Life  and  Confessions  in  the 
preceding  volume,  encourage  me  to  expect,  that  the 
review  of  the  lives  and  writings  of  Ansclm  and  of 
Bernard  in  this,  may  not  be  without  similar  fruit. 

The  history  of  these  seven  centuries,  as  it  has  hi- 
therto appeared  in  our  common  ecclesiastical  narra- 
tives, it  must  be  confessed,  is  extremely  uninteresting. 
If  I  have  had  some  advantages  for  enlivening  and 
illuminating  the  scene,  let  those  be  ascribed  to  the 
peculiar  nature  of  my  historical  plan. 

The  account  of  the  waldenses,  which  closes  the 
volume,  belongs  not  to  the  thirteenth  century  exclu- 
sively; it  is,  however,  ascribed  to  it,  because  in  the 
course  of  that  century  most  extraordinary  persecutions 
and  conflicts  took  place  among  this  people,  and  par- 
ticularly excited  the  attention  of  Europe.  It  was  also 
judged  proper,  to  give  one  unbroken  narrative  of 
waldensian  transactions  in  ecclesiastical  matters,  till 
the  time  of  the  reformation. 

If  the  reader  learn  some  practical  lessons  concerning 
the  power,  wisdom,  goodness,  and  faithfulness  of  God, 
from  the  review  of  the  events,  which  lie  before  him, 
I  shall  have  reason  to  rejoice,  nor  shall  I  think  my  la- 
bour to  have  been  in  vain. 


CONTENTS. 


CENTURY  VI. 

CHAPTER  I. 

The  Life  of  FiUgentius^  and  the  State  of  the  African  Churches  in 

his  time. 

CHAPTER  n. 

The  State  of  the  Church  in  other  Parts  of  the  Roman  Emfiire,  till  the 
Death  of  Justin,  including'  the  Life  of  Ctesarius. 

CHAPTER  HI. 

The  State  of  the  Church  during  the  Reign  of  Justinian. 

CHAPTER  IV. 

Miscellaneous  Affairs  to  the  End  of  the  Century. 

CHAPTER  V. 
Gregory  the  Fir  sty  Bishop,  of  Rome.  His  Pastoral  Labours. 

CHAPTER  VI. 
Gregory's  Conduct  toward  the  Emfierors  Mauritius  and  Phocas. 

CHAPTER  VII. 

Gregory's  Conduct  with  Resfiect  to  England. 

CHAPTER  VIII. 

The  Works  of  Gregory. 

CHAPTER  IX. 

Writers  of  this  Century. 

CENTURY  VII. 

CHAPTER  I. 

c  The  English  Church, 


X  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  II. 

The  Profiagation  of  the  Gosfiel  in  Germany  and  its  JVeighbourhood. 

CHAPTER  III. 

The  General  History  of  the  Church  in  this  Century, 

CHAPTER  IV. 

Authors  of  this  Century. 

CENTURY  VIII. 

CHAPTER  I. 

Venerable  Bede^  the  English  Presbyter. 

CHAPTER  II. 

Miscellaneous  Particulars. 

CHAPTER  III. 

The  Controversy  on  Images.  The  maturity  of  Antichrist. 

CHAPTER  IV. 

The  Profiagation  of  the  Gospel  in  this  Century^  including  the  Life 
of  Boniface^  Archbishop  of  Mentz. 

CHAPTER  V. 

Authors  of  this  Century. 

CENTURY  IX. 

CHAPTER  I. 
A  general  View  of  the  State  of  Religion  in  this  Century. 

CHAPTER  II. 

The  PauJicians. 

CHAPTER  III. 

The  Opposition  made  to  the  Corruptions  of  Popery  in  this  Century, 
particularly  by  Claudius,  Bishop  of  Turin. 

CHAPTER  IV. 

The  Case  of  Qotteschalcus. 


CONTENTS.  XI 

CHAPTER  V. 

The  Profiagation  of  the  Gosfiel  in  this  Century. 

CENTURY  X. 

CHAPTER  I. 

ji  general  View  of  the  Church  in  this  Century. 

CHAPTER  II. 

The  Profiagation  of  the  Gosfiel  in  this  Century. 

CHAPTER  III. 

./in  Afiologyfor  Christian  Missions. 

CHAPTER  IV. 

Writers  and  eminent  Men  in  this  Century. 

CENTURY  XI. 

CHAPTER  I. 

ji  general  View  of  the  Church  in  this  Century. 

CHAPTER  II. 

The  Ofifiosition  made  to  the  Errors  of  Pofiery. 

CHAPTER  III. 

The  Profiagation  of  the  Gosfiel  in  this  Century. 

CHAPTER  IV. 

The  State  of  the  Church  in  England. 

CHAPTER  V. 

jinselm. 

CENTURY  XII. 

CHAPTER  I. 

A  general  View  of  the  Life  of  Bernard. 

CHAPTER  II. 

Bernard's  Defence  of  Evangelical  Truth  against  Melard 


Xll  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  III. 

« 

Controversies  oj"  Bernard  ivith  several  other  real  or  supposed  Here- 
tics. Some  account  of  the  Cathari. 

CHAPTER  IV. 

The  Writings  of  Bernard  reviewed. 

CHAPTER  V. 

Death  and  Character  of  Bernard, 

CHAPTER  VI. 

General  State  of  the  Church  in  this  Century. 

CHAPTER  VII. 

The  Propagation  of  the  Gos/iel. 

CHAPTER  VIII. 

Writers  and  e?ninent  Persons  in  this  Century. 

CENTURY  XIII. 

CHAPTER  I. 

Peter  Waldo. 

CHAPTER  II. 
The  real  Character  of  the  Waldenses. 

CHAPTER  III. 

The  Doctrine  and  DiscifiHne  of  the  Waldenses. 

CHAPTER  IV. 

The  Persecutions  of  the  Waldenses. 


CENTURY  VI. 


CHAP.  I. 

The  Life  of  Fulgentms^  and  the  State  of  the  African 
Churches  in  his  Time. 

IN  the  year  496,  a  storm  began  again  to  lower  over 
the  African  Churches.  Thrasamond,  whose  reign  then 
commenced,  as  obstinate  in  arianism  as  Huneric,  but 
more  sagacious  and  less  bloody,  mingled  the  arts  of 
gentleness  and  severity  against  them.  On  the  one  hand 
he  strove  to  gain  over  the  orthodox  by  lucrative  mo- 
tives, on  the  other  he  forbade  the  ordination  of  bishops 
in  the  vacant  churches.*  But  P^ugenius,  whose  faith- 
fulness had  been  so  severely  tried  in  the  former  perse- 
cution, was  called  to  sleep  in  Jesus  before  the  com- 
mencement of  this.  The  African  bishops  showed  how- 
ever that  divine  grace  had  not  forsaken  them.  They 
determined  unanimously  not  to  obey  an  order,  which 
threatened  the  extinction  of  orthodoxy.  They  ordain- 
ed bishops,  and  filled  the  vacant  sees,  though  they 
foresaw  the  probability  of  Thrasamond's  resentment. 
But  they  thought  it  their  duty  to  take  care  of  their  flocks 
at  this  hazard,  rather  than  to  seem  to  consent  to  the 
king's  unrighteous  prohibitions.  Thrasamond  enraged, 
determined  to  banish  them  all.  Fulgentius  was  just  at 
that  time  chosen  bishop  of  Ruspae.  In  him  we  behold 
another  instance  of  the  effects  of  the  religion  revived 
under  Augustine.  Fulgentius's  life  is  written  by  some 
one  of  his  disciples,  and  dedicated  to  Felician,  a  bishop, 
who  was  the  successor  of  Fulgentius.  The  review  of 
it  and  of  his  own  works  will  give  us  a  specimen  of  the 
power  of  divine  grace  victoriously  struggling  under  ^1 

*  Sec  Fleury,  b.  xxx.  vol.  iii. 

Vol.  III.  3 


14 

the  disadvantages  of  monastic  superstition  and  the 
childish  ignorance  of  a  barbarous  age.  Fulgentius  was 
descended  from  a  noble  family  in  Carthage,  where  his 
father  was  a  senator.  His  grandfather  Gordian,  flying 
from  the  arms  of  Huneric,  retired  into  Italy.  After  his 
decease,  two  of  his  sons,  returning  into  Africa  now 
settled  under  the  Vandal  government,  found  their 
family  mansion  possessed  by  the  Arian  clergy.  By 
royal  authority  however  they  received  part  of  their 
patrimony,  and  retired  to  Constantinople.  In  that  part 
of  the  world,  at  Tellepte,  Fulgentius  was  born,  being 
the  son  of  Claudius  one  of  the  brothers,  and  of  Mar- 
riana,  a  christian  lady,  who  being  soon  left  a  widow 
gave  her  son  a  very  liberal  education,  for  which  Con- 
stantinople afforded  at  that  time  peculiar  advantages; 
and  thus  his  mind  became  stored  with  Greek  and  Ro- 
man learning.  As  he  increased  in  religious  serious- 
ness, he  inclined  more  and  more  to  a  monastic  life,  for 
which  he  gradually  prepared  himself  by  successive 
austerities  in  Africa,  the  country  of  his  father,  to  which 
he  returned  with  his  mother.  He  was  received  into  the 
monastery  of  Faustus,  a  bishop  w^hom  the  Arian 
persecution  had  banished  from  his  diocese  to  a 
place  contiguous  to  it  where  he  erected  his  monastery. 
The  spirit  and  fiishion  of  the  times  so  transpor- 
ted him,  that,  at  first,  he  refused  even  to  see  his 
own  mother  who  came  to  visit  him,  though  he  af- 
terwards behaved  to  her  with  the  greatest  filial  duty. 
He  underwent  severe  bodily  sufferings  from  the  re- 
newal of  the  arian  persecution.  He  was  beaten  with 
clubs  so  cruelly,  that  he  confessed  afterwards  he  scarce 
found  himself  capable  of  enduring  the  pain  any  longer, 
and  was  glad  to  induce  his  tormentors  by  some  con- 
versation to  allow  an  interval  to  his  afflictions.  For  he 
seems  to  have  been  of  a  weak  and  delicate  constitution, 
and  the  softness  of  his  early  education  rendered  him 
unfit  to  bear  much  hardship.  His  mind,  however,  ap- 
pears to  have  been  serene  and  faithful  to  his  Saviour, 
■whom,  in  real  humility  and  sincerity,  though  tarnished 
with  the  fashionable  superstition,  he  served  according 


15 

to  the  fundamentals  of  the  gospel.  The  arian  bishop 
of  Carthage,  who  had  known  Fulgentius,  and  esteemed 
his  character,  highly  disapproved  of  this  treatment, 
which  he  had  received  from  a  presbyter  of  his  own 
religion  and  diocese,  and  told  the  injured  youth,  that, 
if  he  would  make  a  formal  complaint  before  him,  he 
would  avenge  his  cause.  Many  advising  him  to  do  so, 
"it  is  not  lawful,  says  Fulgentius,  for  a  christian  to  seek 
revenge.  The  Lord  knows  how  to  defend  his  servants. 
Should  the  presbyter  through  me  be  punished,  I  shall 
lose  the  reward  of  my  patience  with  God,  and  the  more 
so,  as  it  would  give  an  occasion  of  stumbling  to  the 
weak,  to  see  an  arian  pujiished  by  a  monk."  By  aixl 
by  he  retired  into  the  more  interior  parts  of  Africa. 
Sometime  after  he  sailed  to  Syracuse,  and  then  visited 
Rome,  and  saw  there  king  Theodoric  in  the  midst  of 
a  magnificent  assembly.  If  men  in  this  life,  seeking 
vanity,  attain  such  dignity,  what  will  be  the  glory  of 
saints  who  seek  true  honour  in  the  new  Jerusalem? 
this  was  the  reflection.  Ruspas  in  Africa  was  the  place 
to  which  Fulgentius,  much  against  his  will,  was  at 
length  elected  bishop.  But  this  exaltation  lessened  not 
the  severity  of  his  w^ay  of  life:  and  by  the  Arian  perse- 
cution he  was  banished  into  Sardinia  in  company  with 
other  ftiithful  witnesses  of  orthodoxy.  Upwards  of 
sixty  bishops  were  with  him  in  exile.  Thrasamond 
sent  more  still  into  Sardinia,  in  all  220;  exerted  him- 
self mightily  in  overcoming  the  constancy  of  the  or- 
thodox, and  delighted  to  insnare  them  with  captious 
questions.  Fulgentius  was  sent  for  by  him  to  Carthage, 
and  by  his  skill  in  argument,  and  his  readiness  in  an- 
swering questions,  excited  the  king's  admiration — till 
through  the  advice  of  his  Arian  clergy,  who  looked  on 
the  presence  of  Fulgentius  as  dangerous  at  Carthage, 
he  was  remanded  to  Sardinia.  Soon  after,  Hilderic,  the 
successor  of  Thrasamond,  in  the  year  523,  favouring 
tlie  orthodox,  put  a  total  end  to  the  persecution,  and 
Ruspa;  once  more  beheld  her  bishop. 

He  lived  among  his  flock  from  this  time  to  his  death» 
eminent  in  piety,  humility,  and  charity.    For  near 


16 

seventy  days  he  suffered  extreme  pains  in  his  last  sick- 
ness— '*  Lord,  give  patience  here  and  rest  hereafter," 
was  his  constant  prayer — and  he  died  at  length,  as  he 
had  lived,  an  edifying  example  of  every  christian  vir- 
tue.  I  feel  almost  ashamed  to  have  written  so  barren  a 
life  of  a  man  undoubtedly  excellent  in  godliness.  But 
the  reader  must  be  content,  as  well  as  myself,  with  the 
poverty  of  materials.  In  an  age  of  learning  and  genius 
the  life  of  Fulgentius  would  have  shone  abundantly. 
In  his  treatise  to  Morinus  on  predestination  he  ob- 
serves,* "  The  internal  master,  from  whom  we  have 
received  the  supply  of  celestial  doctrine,  not  only 
opens  to  us,  inquiring  the  secrets  of  his  words,  but 
does  also  himself  inspire  the  grace  to  make  inquiry. 
For  we  cannot  so  much  as  hunger  after  the  bread  which 
comes  down  from  heaven,  unless  an  appetite  be  given 
to  persons  before  fastidious  by  him,  who  deigns  also 
to  give  himself  to  satisfy  the  hungry.  From  him  it  is, 
that  thirsting  we  run  to  the  fountain,  who  affords  to  us 
himself  that  we  may  drink."  He  afterwards  expresses 
himself  with  great  energy  "  on  the  internal  and  sweeter 
doctrine  of  divine  inspiration,  where  truth  speaks  the 
sweeter,  as  it  is  the  more  secret."  I  shall  not  expect  of 
any  man,  but  one  who  is  truly  taught  of  God,  to  give  a 
candid  interpretation  of  this.  "  I  pray  to  be  taught 
many  more  things  which  I  do  not  know,  by  him,  from 
whom  I  have  received  the  little  which  I  do  know.  I 
beg  by  his  preventing  and  following  grace  to  be  in- 
structed,"! &c.  In  what  follows  he  shows  how  serious- 
ly he  had  made  the  sentiments  of  Augustine  his  own, 
in  discussing  points  exceeding  intricate,  with  that 
author's  modesty  and  dexterity,  and  particularly  in  re- 
solving all  sin  into  pride.  J 

In  a  subject  so  arduous  as  Predestination,  it  is  very 
easy  to  push  men  into  difficulties.  Our  au  hor  ob- 
serves,(§  that  some  Frenchmen  had  objected  to  Au- 
gustine, that  he  had  described  men  as  predestinated 
not  only  to  judgment  but  also  to  sin:  on  which  account 
the  learned  and  holy  Prosper  defended  the  sentiments' 

*  Book  i.  ch.  i.     t  Ch.  iv.     t  Ch.  xvii.      §  Ch.  x$S- 


17 

ot'  the  African  prelate,  whose  death  prevented  any  an- 
swer from  himself.  Prosper  says,  the  unbelief  of  men 
is  not  generated  from  predestination;  for  God  is  the 
author  of  good,  not  of  evil.  Infidelity  is  not  to  be  re- 
ferred to  the  divine  constitution,  but  only  to  the  divine 
prescience. 

Wiih  equal  dexterity  he  defends  the  faith  of  the 
Trinity  in  a  book  addressed  to  king  Thrasamond. 
Let  it  suffice  to  mention  one  ar8;ument  for  the  divnity 
of  the  Holy  Ghost  toward  the  close.  "  If  he  can 
quicken  who  is  not  God;  if  he  can  sanctify  who  is  not 
God;  if  he  can  dwell  in  believers  who  is  not  God;  if 
he  can  give  grace  who  is  not  God,  then  the  Holy 
Ghost  may  be  denied  to  be  God.  If  any  creature  can 
do  those  things,  which  are  spoken  of  the  Holy  Ghost, 
then  let  the  Holy  Ghost  be  called  a  creature."  In  a 
treatise  on  the  incarnation  and  grace  of  Jesus  Christ  *" 
he  answers  the  trite  objection  against  divine  election 
drawn  from  the  words,  "  God  would  have  all  men  to 
be  saved,"  by  showing  that  upon  the  views  of  those 
who  see  no  mystery  in  the  subject,  but  resolve  the 
distinction  into  the  merits  or  demerits  of  men.  Al- 
mighty God  ceases  to  be  incomprehensible,  as  the 
scripture  describes  him  to  be.  He  allows  the  great 
truth,  that  God  would  have  all  men  to  be  saved,  and 
yet  that  there  is  a  depth  not  to  be  fathomed  by  man 
in  the  destruction  of  so  many  sinners.  Much  more 
might  be  quoted  from  this  author  on  subjects  essen- 
tially connected  with  the  gospel  of  Christ.  But  the 
diffusiveness  of  the  quotations  from  Augustine  may 
supersede  the  necessity  of  enlarging  on  the  views  of 
one,  who  so  closely  followed  his  steps,  and  who  wrote 
and  lived  with  a  similar  spirit. 

Besides  several  doctrinal  treatises  we  have  also  a 
few  epistles  of  this  saint.  The  fourth  to  Proba  con- 
cerning prayer  deserves  to  be  carefully  studied.  It  is 
an  excellent  sample  of  the  humble  piety  of  the  African 
school.  He  instructs  the  lady  in  his  favourite  doctrine 
of  grace  connected  with  humility,  and  justly  infers, 

*  *Ch.  vi^ 


t.'t^. 


18 

it  

that  if"  a  man  as  yet  innocent  could  not  remain  so  by 
his  natural  power,  much  less  can  this  be  expected  from 
him  now  that  he  is  in  a  state  of  so  great  depravity.  He 
describes,  in  a  pathetic  manner,  the  snares  arising  from 
the  craft  of  Satan,  and  the  corrupt  workings  of  the 
heart,  declaring  that  though  the  Lord  from  time  to 
time  attend  with  aids  during  the  sharp  war,  lest  his 
people  faint,  yet  our  mortalnature  is  suffered  to  be  over- 
loaded with  the  burden  of  corruption,  that  we  may  feel 
our  helplessness,  and  have  speedy  recourse  to  divine 
grace.  He  describes  the  conflict  between  flesh  and 
spirit,  shows  that  it  must  last  through  life,  that  prayer 
and  watching  arc  ever  necessar}^,  and  that  a  conceit  of 
our  perfection  would  lead  us  into  deadly  pride.  He  re- 
commends an  humble  contrite  frame  of  spirit,  not  only 
for  the  beginning,  but  for  the  whole  course  of  a  chris- 
tian's progress,  and  concludes  with  a  beautiful  view 
of  the  perfect  rest  from  sin  which  remains  for  him 
hereafter.  It  is  refreshing  to  the  mind,  to  see  the  real 
principles  of  Christianity  appearing  in  great  vigour  and 
clearness  in  this  little  composition. 

The  epistle  to  Eugyptius*  is  full  of  charity,  and 
describes  this  greatest  of  christian  graces  in  a  manner 
much  resembling  that  of  Augusthie.  In  an  epistle  to 
Theodorus  a  senatorf,  he  congratulates  him  on  his  vic- 
tory over  the  world.  He  had  been,  it  seems,  a  Roman 
consul,  and  had  given  up  secular  pursuits  through  the 
love  of  heavenly  things.  Fulgentius  strongly  reminds 
him  to  \vhose  grace  alone  he  was  indebted  for  the 
change,  and  recommends  humility^,  "  a  virtue  which 
neither  those  have  who  love  the  world,  nor  those  who 
profess  to  ha^"e  renounced  the  world  by  their  own 
streng-th."  Bv  which  distribution  of  the  unconverted 
into  two  sorts  Ik;  points  out  the  same  division  of  men, 

*  Ep.  5.  t  Ep.  6. 

r  The  practice  of  Fulg-entius  agTeed  with  his  doctrine.  About  the  end  oi' 
the  year  524,  a  bishop  in  an  African  council  tUsputed precedency  with  him 
The  council  decided  for  Fulgentius,  who  for  that  time  acqiuesced  in  the  au- 
thority of  the  council.  But,  observing  how  much  the  other  was  afflicted  at 
the  determination,  in  a  future  ouncil  he  publicly  desired  that  it  might  be 
reversed.  His  humility  was  admired,  and  his  request  was  grained. 


1-9 

which  has  ever  taken  place  from  the  tune  of  Chrihl. 
Pharisees  and  Sadducces  were  their  names  among  the 
Jews;  in  the  Gentile  Avorld  the  terms  Stoics  and  Epi- 
cureans gave  the  same  distinction.  In  the  school  of 
Augustine  lovers  of  the  world,  and  men  ])roudly  boast- 
ing in  their  own  strength,  pointed  out  the  difference, 
which  we  now  commonly  mark  by  the  terms  worldly- 
minded  and  self-righteous:  while  in  all  ages  the  genuine 
religion  of  real  humility  stands  contradistinguished 
from  both.  Fulgentius  recommends  to  this  nobleman 
the  constant  study  of  the  scriptures.  "  If  you  come  to 
them  meek  and  humble,  there  you  will  find  preventing 
grace  by  which,  when  fallen,  you  may  rise;  accompa- 
nying grace,  by  which  you  may  run  the  way  of  rectitude; 
and  Ibllowing  grace,  by  which  you  may  reach  the  hea- 
venly kingdom." 

In  the  epistle  to  Venantia  concerning  repentance*, 
he  steers  in  the  middle  course  between  presumption 
and  despair,  invites  all  men  of  every  age  to  repent  and 
be  converted,  under  the  confident  expectation  of  ac- 
ceptance with  God  through  Jesus  Christ,  mentions  ouf 
Lord's  parable  of  the  different  hours  in  which  la- 
bourers are  brought  into  the  vineyard  as  an  alignment, 
that  no  time  is  fixed  to  debar  the  returning  sinner.  Nor 
would  Jesus  have  come  to  save  the  lost  in  this  last  age 
©fthe  world,  if  human  wickedness  was  ever  too  strong 
for  divine  mercy  and  goodness.  He  observes,  that  the 
great  defect  of  Judas  in  his  repentance  lay  in  this, 
that  he  had  no  faith  in  that  blood  which  he  had  betray- 
ed. He  quotes  pertinent  scriptures,  and,  to  compre- 
hend in  one  nervous  sentence  the  whole  subject,  he 
says  t,  A  salutary  conversion  is  twofold;  it  is  when  re- 
pentance leaves  not  him  who  hopes  in  the  divine 
favour,  nor  hope  deserts  the  penitent:  and  it  is  evi- 
denced by  this,  if  a  man  with  his  whole  heart  renounce 
his  sin,  and  with  his  whole  heart  place  his  hope  of 
forgiveness  in  God.  For  sometimes  the  devil  takes 
away  hope  from  the  penitent,  sometinies  repentanci; 

% .         *  Ujj.  r.  ■    +  C'.i  ' 


m 


from  him  who  hopes.  In  the  first  case  he  overwhelms 
the  man  whom  he  burdens,  in  the  second  he  throws 
down  him  whom  he  sets  at  ease.  Hear  his  testimony  to 
the  mystery  of  the  gospel.  The  only  begotten  God 
so  loved  human  nature,  that  he  not  only  freed  it  from 
the  power  of  the  devil,  but  also  placed  it  at  the  right 
hand  of  the  Father  in  himself  above  all  good  angels. 

In  his  epistle  concerning  the  baptism  of  a  dying  ne- 
gro, who  had  given  previous  proofs  of  sincerity,  while 
he  was  a  catechumen,  but  in  the  time  of  baptism  it- 
self was  senseless  and  incapable  of  professing  his  faith; 
he  endeavours  to  obviate  the  doubts  of  those  who  were 
afraid  lest  his  incompetency  should  prevent  his  salva- 
tion. There  are  two  points  observable  in  this  epistle^, 
one  is  the  custom  of  the  church  in  presenting  infants 
to  baptism,  the  other  is,  that  however  rapid  the  pro- 
gress of  superstition  had  been  in  the  time  of  Fulgen- 
tius,  yet  the  most  destructive  superstitions,  and  those 
which  are  directly  subversive  of  christian  faith  and 
purity,  both  in  doctrine  and  practice,  were  as  yet  un- 
known. He  assigns  as  a  reason  for  not  baptizing  the 
dead,  that  sins  are  irremissible  after  the  separation 
of  the  soul  from  the  body.  He  supports  his  opinion: 
with  the  declaration  of  the  apostle,  that  we  must  be 
judged  of  the  things  done  in  the  body.  Nothing  can 
be  more  conclusive  against  the  pernicious  doctrine  of 
purgatory. 

I  observe  farther  that  he  uses  the  word  "  to  justify" 
in  the  same  sense  in  which  Augustine  does;  nor  does 
the  true  idea  of  the  word  seem  to  be  recovered  by  the 
christian  world  till  the  days  of  Luther*. 

He  speaks  of  the  evils  of  the  Pelagian  heresy,  and 
describes  the  strength  and  ability  given  to  Augustine 
against  it,  and  strongly  recommends  the  writings  of 
that  father  to  the  christian  world,  as  containing  a 
more  copious  instruction  of  divine  grace,  than  had 
been  known  some  time  before,  though  the  doctrine 
itself,  he  contends,  had  ever  been  held  in  the  church,  f 

*  De  Verit.  Pracd.  b.  j,  c,  xiv.  f  JDe  Verit.  Prard.  b.  ii.c.  xviii 


21 


CHAP.  II. 

The  State  of  the  Church  in  other  Parts  of  the  Roman 
Empire,  till  the  Death  of  Justin^  including  the  Life 
of  Ccesariiis. 

IN  the  beginning  of  this  century  Alaric  king  of  the 
Visigoths  reigned  at  Toulouse,  and  was  sovereign  of 
a  kingdom  on  the  confines  of  France  and  Spain, 
though  afterwards,  by  the  victorious  arms  of  the 
Franks,  the  Visigoths  were  confined  to  the  latter 
country.  Most  of  his  subjects  were  of  the  general 
church,  and  he  himself  was  an  arian;  yet  he  treated 
them  with  great  humanity,  and  gave  leave  to  the 
bishops  of  his  kingdom  to  meet  together  at  the  city 
of  Agde.  Twenty-four  bishops  assembled,  the  presi- 
dent of  whom  was  Ccesarius,  bishop  of  Aries.  They 
made  a  number  of  canons,  relating  to  discipline  and 
church  externals,  two  or  three  particulars  of  which 
may  be  mentioned.  "  All  clergymen  who  serve  the 
church  faithfully  shall  receive  salaries  proportionable 
to  their  services."  This  rule,  so  simple  and  general, 
was  the  ancient  provision  for  die  maintenance  of  pas- 
tors. But,  by  another  canon  of  this  council,  clergy- 
men are  allov/ed,  provided  they  have  the  bishop's 
leave,  to  reserve  to  themselves  the  revenues  of  the 
church,^"  saving  its  rights,  but  without  the  power  of 
giving  a^vay  or  alienating  any  part;  and  here  is  the 
origin  of  benefices.  "  In  all  churches  the  creed  shall 
be  explained  to  the  competentsf  on  the  same  day, 
a  week  before  Easter.  All  such  laymen  as  shall  not 
receive  the  communion  three  times  a  year,  at  the 
three  great  festivals, J  shall  be  looked  on  as  hea- 
thens.   Oratories  may  be  allowed  in   the  country  to 

*  Fionry,  li.  Nxxi.  1.  Vol.  iv. 

T  Who  seen)  to  havt;  been  those  who  ap])ru,-(i  fi)r  baptisni 

i  Christmas,  Easter,  imd  Whltsunti.lc. 

Vol.  in.  4 


22      . 

those  aaIio  live  at  a  great   distance  from  the  parish 
churches,   for  the    ease    and    convenience    of  their 
famihes;     but    they    must    appear    at   their    parish 
churches  on  certain  solemn  festivals."  This  lasi  rule 
showed  at  once  a  regard  for  parochial  order  and  for 
the  instruction  of  the  people.*  The  next  is  equally- 
laudable:    ''  Laymen  are    ordered   to  remain  in  the 
church,   till  the  blessing  is  pronounced."    Caesarius 
was  verv  zealous  ae'ainst  the  abuses  meant  to  be  rec- 
tified  by  this  canon.  He  observed  one  day  some  per- 
sons  going  out  of  the  church  to  avoid  hearing  the 
sermon,  "  What  are  you  about,  my  children?  cried  he 
with  a  loud  voice,  where  are  you  going?  Sta}',  stay 
for  the  good  of  your  souls.  At  the  day  of  judgment 
it  will   be  too  late  to   exhort  you."    This  just  and 
charitable  zeal  prevailed  at  length;  but  he  was  often 
obliged  to  cause  the  church  doors  to  be  shut,  after 
the  gospel  was  read,  to  prevent  the  impious  practice. 
His  people  were  however  reclaimed,  and  they  repent- 
ed by  degrees.  There  are  still  extant  two  of  his  ser- 
mons on  this  subject.  Mankind  in  all  ages  are  apt  to 
be  weary  of  God's  word;  there  were  however  pastors 
in  the  western  church,  who  served  for  charity,  and 
not  for  lucre.  Another  canon  will  deserve  to  be  m.en- 
tioned.   It  forbade  auguries,  and  divinations,  and  the 
opening  of  the   scriptures  with  a  view  to  make  an 
omen  of  the  first  words  that  offered.  We  have  seen, 
that  Augustine  had  opposed  this  last  mentioned  su- 
perstition. Here  it  was  forbidden  under  penalty  of  ex- 
communication. Yet  it  still  prevailed.  I  see  the  Afri- 
can school  virtuously,  but  unsuccessfully,  struggling 
against  the  increasing  darkness  and  superstition. 

Cgesarius  himself  had  spent  some  part  of  his  youth 
in  the  famous  monastery  of  Lerins.f  Hearing  after- 
wards that  he  Avas  actually  designed  to  be  made  bishop 

*  The  union  of  these  two  in  just  proportion  gives  a  perfect  idea  of  good 
discipline.  It  would  be  well  if  similar  care  were  taken  for  many  places  in 
our  own  country,  far  distant  from  parish  churches. 

f  This  little  island,  which  we  have  had  repeated  occasion  to  mention, 
is  now  called  St.  Honorat,  is  close  to  the  French  roast,  and  lies  between 
Nice  and  Toulon 


23 

of  Aries,  he  hid  himself  among  the  tombs.  But  he 
was  taken  out  thence,  at  the  age  of  thirty,  was  ap- 
pointed bishop,  and  continued  in  that  church  above 
forty  years.  He  was  fond  of  ringing,  and  as  he  found 
the  laity  were  apt  to  talk  in  the  church,  while  the 
clergy  were  singing,  he  induced  the  laity  to  join  with 
them  in  psalmody;  and,  in  a  sermon  still  extant,  he 
exhorts  them  to  sing  with  their  hearts,  as  well  as  their 
voices.  In  another  sermon  he  exhorts  them  to  throw 
off  all  distracting  thoughts,  before  they  prostrate  them- 
selves for  prayer,  "  Whoever,  says  he,  in  his  prayers, 
thinks  on  a  public  place  of  resort,  or  the  house  he  is 
building,  worships  that  place  or  that  house."  He  di- 
rects them  also  not  to  be  content  with  hearing  the 
scriptures  read  in  the  church,  but  to  read  them  also 
at  home. 

This  holy  man  gave  himself  intirely  to  reading  and 
preaching.  He  preached  on  all  Sundays  and  holidays. 
If  he  was  himself  hindered  from  preaching,  he  caused 
his  own  sermons  or  those  of  Augustine,  whom  he 
highly  revered,  or  those  of  Ambrose,  to  be  read  by 
other  ministers.  His  style  was  plain,  and  adapted  to 
common  capacities.  He  entered  into  practical  particu- 
lars, searched  the  consciences  of  his  hearers,  and  se- 
verely reproved  idolatrous  and  superstitious  usages. 

He  was  once,  by  calumny,  ejected  from  his  church; 
but  Alaric,  his  sovereign,  on  the  discovery  of  his  in- 
nocence restored  him.  He  was  exposed  to  similar 
sufferings  afterwards;  but  was  again  delivered,  and 
amidst  the  confusions  of  the  times  distinguished  him- 
self exceedingly  by  acts  of  mercy.  He  died  in  the 
year  542,  universally  lamented. 

In  the  mean  time  the  cause  of  arianism  was  gra- 
dually declining,  partly  by  the  progress  of  the  Franks, 
and  partly  by  the  influence  of  Sigismund,  king  of 
Burgundy,  who  succeeded  his  father  Gondebaud,  hav- 
ing been  brought  over  to  orthodoxy  by  Avitus,  bishop 
of  Vienne,  a  year  before. 

Sigismund,  king  of  the  Burgundians,  having  been 
induced  to  put  to  death  his  son  Sigeric  by  the  calumny 


24 

of  his  second  wife,  and  finding  afterwards  his  error, 
repented  in  gr^at  bitterness,  and  besought  God  to 
punish  him  in  this  Hfe  and  not  in  the  next.  His  prayer 
seems  to  have  been  heard;  for,  in  the  year  523,  he 
was  attacked  by  Clodomir,  king  of  the  Franks,  the 
successor  of  Clovis,  and  was  afterwards  slain  with  his 
wife  and  children.  Clodomir  himself  was  soon  after 
slain  in  Burgundy,  and  his  three  sons  were  brought 
up  by  Clotilda,  the  widow  of  Clovis  their  grandmo- 
ther. 

Such  was  the  state  of  the  church  of  Christ  in 
France  during  the  former  part  of  this  century.  In 
Italy,  some  degree  of  g-enuine  piety  may  he  presumed 
to  have  still  existed,  though  I  haA-e  no  interesting  par- 
ticulars to  record.  If  we  turn  our  eyes  to  the  east, 
the  prospect  is  far  more  disagreeable.  Factions  and 
feuds,  heretical  perversions  and  scandalous  enormities 
fill  up  the  scene.  Under  the  emperor  Justin  Christi- 
anity began  at  length  to  wear  a  more  agreeable  aspect 
in  some  respects,  and  peace  and  good  order,  in  exter- 
nal things  at  least,  WTre  in  a  measure  restored.  In  the 
year  522  Zamnaxes,  king  of  the  Lazi,  a  people  who 
inhabited  the  country  anciently  called  Colchis,  being 
dead,  his  son  Zathes  repaired  to  Constantinople,  tell- 
,  ing  the  emperor  that  he  was  desirous  of  receiving  the 
gospel,  and  of  relinquishing  the  idolatry  of  his  ances- 
tors. They  had  been  vassals  to  the  king  of  Persia, 
and  had  been  obliged  to  perform  sacrifices  after  the 
Persian  mode.  He  put  himself  therefore  under  the 
protection  of  Justin,  and  desired  to  receive  the  crown 
from  his  hands.  Justin  granted  his  requests,  and  thus 
the  Lazi  became  vassals  to  the  eastern  empire,  and 
embraced  Christianity.  The  Iberians  also,  who  bor- 
dered on  their  territories,  and  were  also  subjects  to  the 
king  of  Persia,  had  already  received  the  gospel.  How 
far  any  thing  of  the  real  spirit  of  Christ's  religion  was 
imbibed  by  either  nation,  I  know  not.  I  can  only  say, 
the  limits  of  the  christian  name  were  extended  in  the 
east.* 

*  FJetiry  xsxi.  59. 


25 

In  Arabia  Felix*  there  were  many  christians  subject 
to  a  kingt  called  Dounouas,  a  Jew,  who  caused  those 
who  were  unwilling  to  become  Jews  to  be  cast  into 
pits  full  of  fire.  In  the  year  522  he  besieged  Negra,  a 
town  inhabited  by  christians.  Having  persuaded  them 
to  surrender  on  articles,  he  broke  his  oath,  burnt  the 
pastors,  beheaded  the  laymen,  and  carried  all  the 
youth  into  captivity.  Here  then  the  real  church  of 
Christ  may  be  traced  by  sufferings  voluntarily  under- 
gone for  his  sake.  The  next  year  Elesbaan,  king  of 
Abyssinia,  a  country,  which,  as  we  have  formerly 
seen,  had  been  christian  since  the  days  of  Athanasius, 
supported  by  the  emperor  Justin,  invaded  the  territo- 
ries of  the  Arabian  Jew,  subdued  his  country  and 
slew  him.  Thus  the  Arabian  christians  were  relieved. 
Elesbaan  himself  was  very  zealous,  and  gave  this 
proof  of  his  zeal,  that  he  resigned  his  crown  to  em- 
brace the  monastic  life. 


CHAP.  III. 

The  State  of  the  Church  during  the  reign  of  Justinian. 

On  the  death  of  Justin,  his  nephew  Justinian  suc- 
ceeded at  Constantinople  in  the  year  527.  He  was 
then  forty-five  years  old,  and  reigned  thirty-nine.  I 
scarce  know  any  prince,  whose  real  and  ostensible 
character  were  so  different.  If  one  judge  by  external 
things,  he  may  appear  one  of  the  wisest,  the  most 
pious,  and  the  most  prosperous  of  men.  He  reunited 
Africa  and  Italy  to  the  Roman  empire;  he  is  to  this 

^  Fleury  xxxi.  60. 

f  Bruce  iij  liis  travels  into  Abyssinia,  towards  the  latter  end  of  the  1st 
vol.  calls  this  king-  Phineas,  who,  he  says,  threw  Christians  into  pits 
of  fire,  particularly  a  preacher  Hawaryat,  signifying  the  Evangelical,  with 
ninety  of  his  companions.  The  king  of  Abyssinia,  who  fought  against  tlie 
Jew,  he  calls  Caleb.  His  story,  as  extracted  from  Abyssinian  and  Arabian 
annals,  is  the  same;  and  their  correspondence,  in  this  instance,  with  the 
Greek  history  gives  some  testimony  to  the  authenticity  of  the  materials 
of  Bruce's  Abyssinian  historv. 


"26 

day  famous  for  his  code  of  laws;  he  was  temperate 
and  abstemious  in  private  life,  and  was  incessantly  em- 
ployed in  religious  acts  and  ceremonies:  he  honoured 
monks  and  persons  reputed  holy,  built  sumptuous 
churches,  endowed  monasteries,  was  liberal  beyond 
measure  in  the  support  of  the  externals  of  religion,  was 
incessant  in  the  encouragement  of  orthodoxy,  at  least 
of  that  which  to  him  appeared  to  be  soj  indefatigable 
through  the  course  of  a  long  life  in  public  affairs; 
seems  scarce  to  have  ever  unbended  himself  in  any 
recreations,  spent  much  time  in  religious  specula- 
tions, rooted  out  idolatry  from  its  obscure  corners, 
and  brought  over  a  number  of  barbarous  kings  and 
nations  to  the  profession  of  Christianity.  What  a  cha- 
racter, if  his  heart  had  been  right!  His  understanding 
and  capacity  indeed  have  been  called  in  question;  but 
I  think  unjustly.  No  weak  man  could  have  done  half 
of  what  he  did.  He  must  have  been  a  person  of  supe- 
rior talents,  and  of  very  vigorous  and  strong  faculties. 
But  so  far  as  appears  from  his  conduct,  he  was  alto- 
gether, in  religion,  the  slave  of  superstition,  in  mo- 
rality the  slave  of  avarice.  For  gold  he  sold  his  whole 
empire  to  those  who  governed  the  provinces,  to  the 
collectors  of  tributes,  and  to  those  who  are  wont  to 
frame  plots  against  men  under  any  pretences.  He 
encouraged  the  vilest  characters  in  their  detestable 
and  infamous  calumnies,  in  order  to  partake  of  their 
gains.  He  did  also  innumerable  pious  actions,  says 
Evagrius*,  and  such  as  are  well  pleasing  to  God, 
provided  the  doers  perform  them  with  such  goods  as 
are  their  own  property,  and  offer  their  pure  actions, 
as  a  sacrifice,  to  God.  In  this  emperor  then  it  may  be 
seen  more  eminently  what  a  poor  thing  the  body  of 
christian  religion  is  without  the  spirit.  Whatever 
benefit  the  church  might,  in  some  cases,  derive  from 
his  administration,  particulai'ly  in  what  relates  to  the 
extension  of  its  pale,  this  is  to  be  ascribed  to  the 

*  Ch.  XXX.  b.  iv.  Evagrius  Scholasticus.  His  ecclesiastical  history  takes 
us  vip,  just  after  we  are  deserted  by  Socrates,  Sozomen,  and  Theodoret, 
the  tripailite  historians  of  the  same  period;  and  in  future  I  must  make 
some  use  of  him,  though  in  historical  merit  far  inferior  to  the  three  former. 


27 

adorable  providence  of  God  bringing  good  out  of 
evil.  On  the  other  hand  the  evil  he  wrought  was  pal- 
pable. Dissensions  and  schisms,  forced  conversions 
attended  with  cruelties  which  alienated  men's  minds 
still  more  from  godliness,  the  increase  of  superstition 
and  formality,  the  miserable  declension  of  real  inter- 
nal godliness,  especially  through  the  east,  where  his 
influence  was  most  extensive,  and  the  increase  of 
ignorance  and  practical  wickedness,  were  the  un- 
doubted consequences  of  Justinian's  schemes. 

In  truth  this  man  attempted  too  much:  he  pressed 
uniformity  of  doctrine  through  the  world  by  imperial 
menaces  and  arms:  he  laboured  to  bring  all  nations  in- 
to a  nominal  attachment  to  Christianity:  he  prescribed 
what  bishops  and  laity  should  believe,  and  was  him- 
self, in  effect,  the  pope  as  well  as  the  emperor  of  the 
Roman  world;  yet,  wretched  being!  he  himself  seems 
not  to  have  known  any  one  thing  in  religion  in  a  right 
manner.  In  external  things  he  could  not  but  some- 
times be  right;  in  internal  religion  it  was  hardly  possi- 
ble he  should  be  so;  for  he  w^as  ignorant  of  his  own 
heart,  while  his  eyes  and  ears  with  insatiable  curiosity 
were  intent  on  all  persons  and  objects.  It  will  not  be 
pertinent  to  the  design  of  this  history  to  enter  into  a 
detail  of  the  actions  of  such  a  prince;  but  the  view  of 
his  character,  which  I  think  is  supported  by  the  con- 
current testimony  of  civil  and  ecclesiastical  historians, 
may  teach  persons  of  eminence,  either  in  power,  or 
learning,  or  genius,  who  shall  give  their  minds  to  re- 
ligious objects,  to  be  in  the  first  place  more  concerned 
for  their  own  genuine  conversion,  and  for  personal 
godliness*;  and  then  to  contract  and  limit  their  plans, 
within  the  humble  circle  that  belongs  to  a  fallible,  con- 
fined, and  shortlived  creature  like  man;  and  steadily 

*  Nothint^  shows  in  a  stronger  lig-ht  the  emptiness  of  his  mind  than  bis 
boasting-  after  he  had  finished  the  magnificent  church  of  St  Sophia,  *'  I 
have  excelled  thee,  Solomon."  Yet  was  this  vain  empei'or  made  use  oi 
by  divine  providence  as  a  shield  to  support  external  Christianity  at  least 
in  the  world.  In  his  time  Chosroes  king  of  Persia  persecuted  the  christians 
in  liis  dominions,  with  extreme  cruelty,  and  publicly  declared,  that  he 
would  wage  war  not  only  with  Justinian,  but  also  with  the  God  of  thr 
Christians.  The  military  measures  and  the  religiou.s  zeal  of  Jur^tinian  ho\^■ 
ever  checked  the  progress  of  his  ferocity.  ^ 


28 

to  move  within  that  circle  in  the  propagation  and  sup- 
port of  the  gospel  of  Christ,  and  of  whatever  is  virtu- 
ous and  praiseworthy,  without  being  seduced  by  ro- 
mantic and  dazzling  schemes  to  attempt  what  is  vastly 
above  their  reach:  for  by  this  method  the)'^  may  be 
the  victims  of  their  own  ambition  or  avarice,  while 
they  think  they  serve  God,  and  may  fill  the  world  with 
evil,  while  they  vainly  suppose  they  are  its  benefactors. 
But  these  are  ideas  with  which  the  profane  and  the 
careless  governor  has  no  right  to  meddle:  Justinian 
was  neither  the  one  nor  the  other.  He  was  serious 
through  life,  though  void  of  humility,  faith,  and  cha- 
rity; and  for  serious  spirits,  the  caution,  which  his 
character  is  calculated  to  give,  will  stand  an  instruc- 
tive lesson. 

In  his  first  year  he  made  laws  relating  to  bishops:  a 
few  words  of  them  will  deserve  to  have  a  place  in  this 
history.  "  The  absence*  of  bishops,  says  he,  is  the 
reason  that  divine  service  is  so  negligently  performed; 
that  the  affairs  of  the  churches  are  not  so  well  taken 
care  of,  and  that  the  ecclesiastical  revenues  are  em- 
ployed in  the  expenses  of  their  journeys,  and  of  their 
residence  in  this  city  (he  means  the  metropolis  of  Con- 
stantinople) with  the  clergy  and  domestics  who  accom- 
pany them.  Let  no  bishops  quit  their  churches  to 
come  to  this  city,  without  an  order  from  us,  whatever 
may  happen.  If  we  find  their  presence  to  be  neces- 
sary here,  we  will  send  for  them."  What  motives  in- 
duced bishops  to  attend  the  court  so  much,  is  easy  to 
guess;  and  we  have  here  a  plain  description  how  mucli 
the  eastern  church  was  secularized,  and  how  it  gra- 
dually ripened  into  a  fitness  for  desolating  judgments. 

Justinian  says  further,  "  when  an  episcopal  see  be- 
comes vacant,  the  inhabitants  of  the  city  shall  declare 
in  favour  of  three  persons,  whose  faith  and  manners 
shall  be  testified  by  witnesses,  that  the  most  worthy 
may  be  chosen."  He  proceeds  to  lay  down  rules  to 
restrain  the  avarice  of  bishops;  rules  which  had  no  ex- 
istence in  purer  times,  because  a  purer  spirit  prevailed- 

*  Fleurvj  b.  xxxii.  10. 


29 

In  the  year  529,  a  council,  memorable  for  its  evan- 
gelical spirit,  was  held  at  Orange  in  France:  Cassarius 
was  its  head.  He  had,  as  I  observed,  tasted  the  doc- 
trine  of  Augustine  concerning  grace,  and  was  there- 
fore zealous  for  its  propagation.  We  may  reasonably 
suppose  the  articles  of  this  council  to  have  been 
framed  in  opposition  to  the  attempts  in  favour  of  semr,- 
pelagianism  made  in  France,  as  well  as  to  give  testi- 
mon}  to  the  grace  of  the  gospel.  Thirteen  bishops 
were  present,  ar.d  we  have  a  pleasing  spectacle  of  the 
work  of  the  divine  Spirit  flourishing  in  a  considerable 
degree  in  France,  particularly  in  the  parts  about 
Orange,  and  in  the  vicinity  of  the  Rhone.  "  Adam's 
sin,  says  the  council*,  did  not  only  hurt  the  body,  but 
the  souljw:  descended  to  his  posterity;  the  grace  of  God 
is  not  giv^n  to  them  who  call  upon  him,  but  that  grace 
is  the  cause  that  men  do  call  upon  him:  the  being 
cleansed  from  sin  and  the  beginning  of  our  faith,  is  not 
owing  to  ourselves,  but  to  grace.  We  are  not  able  by 
our  own  natural  strength  to  do  or  think  any  thing 
which  may  conduce  to  our  salvation.  We  believe  that 
Abel,  Noah,  Abraham,  and  the  other  fathers,  have  not 
had  that  faith  by  nature  that  St.  Paul  commendeth  in 
them,  but  by  grace."  To  clear  the  Almighty  of  being 
the  author  of  sin,  they  add  however,  "  that  some  may 
be  predestinated  to  evil,  we  not  only  disbelieve,  but 
detest  those  who  think  so." 

These  words  express  in  substance  the  sentiments  of 
these  holy  men.  But  to  enable  the  reader  to  judge  for 
himself  what  they  were  more  precisely,  I  shall  give 
him  two  passages  from  the  fifth  and  seventh  canons, 
translated  at  length  from  the  Latin  original.  "  If  any 
one  say,  that  the  beginning  or  increase  of  faith,  and 
the  very  affection  of  belief  is  in  us,  not  by  the  gift  of 
grace,  that  is  by  the  inspiration  of  the  holy  Spirit  cor- 
recting our  will  fi'om  infidelity  to  faith,  from  impiety 
to  piety;  but,  by  nature,  he  is  proved  an  enemy  to  the 
doctrine  of  the  apostles."  "  If  any  man  affirm,  that  he 

•   See  Fleurv,  id.  12- 

Vol.  hi.  5 


30 

can,  by  the  vigour  of  nature,  think  any  thing  good 
which  pertains  to  the  salvation  of  eternal  life  as  he 
ought,  or  choose,  or  consent  to  the  saving,  that  is  to 
evangelical,  preaching,  without  the  illumination  and 
inspiration  of  the  holy  Spirit,  who  gives  to  all  the 
sweet  relish  in  consenting  to  and  believing  the  truth, 
he  is  deceived  by  an  heretical  spirit/' 

I  have  been  solicitous  to  preserve  faithfulness  to  the 
original  in  this  short  abstract.  Doubtless  the  sweet 
relish  they  speak  of  is  no  odier  than  that  ineffable  de- 
light in  the  perception  and  obedience  of  the  gospel, 
which  characterizes  the  godly  in  all  ages,  subjects 
them,  though  unjustly,  to  the  charge  of  enthusiasm, 
and  produces  real  practical  Christianity.  In  every  ef- 
fusion of  the  SpiT'it  of  God,  it  always  app^s  in  rich 
exuberance,  and  is  as  distinct  from  formal  or  even 
merely  theoretical  views  of  religion,  as  the  substance 
is  from  the  shadow.  I  look  on  it  as  a  remarkable  fact, 
thi^t  so  plain  a  testimony  to  vital  religion  should  be 
given  in  the  south  of  France  in  the  sixth  century, 
when  the  christian  world  was  every  where  so  much 
sunk  in  darkness.  It  seems,  that  in  this  part  of  France 
at  least  semipelagianism  had  been  checked:  indeed, 
as  several  e^pousers  of  it  were  real  good  men,  it  is  not 
to  be  wondered  at,  that  by  farther  experience  and  at- 
tention thev  might  be  led  to  embrace  in  system  what 
in  their  own  sensations  they  must  have  known  to  be 
true,  name!} ,  that  man,  by  nature,  is  lost  and  helpless 
in  sin,  and  that  grace  alone  can  revive  him.  Cajsarius, 
of  Aries,  was,  in  all  probability,  highly  instrumental  in 
producing  this  change  of  sentiment;  for  we  should  re- 
collect, that  Hilary  of  Aries,  had  been  a  semipeiagian. 
I  should  rejoice  to  be  able  to  gratify  the  spiritual  reader 
with  the  account  of  the  lives,  labours,  and  works  of 
these  thirteen  bishops  of  France,  which  were  probably 
useful  and  edifying.  But  my  records  say  no  more;  and 
this  is  one  of  the  thousand  cases  in  which  I  have  to  re- 
gret, how  little  of  real  church  history  hiis  been 
written,  how  much  of  ecclesiastical  perversions  and 
abuses. 


31 

In  the  same  year  a  council  was  held  also  at  Vaison,* 
at  which  were  present  twelve  bishops,  of  whom  Cse- 
sarius  was  one.  They  decreed,  according  to  the  cus- 
tom observed  in  Italy,  that  ail  country  priests  should 
receive  into  their  houses  young  men,  who  might  be 
readers  in  the  church,  that  they  should  educate  them 
with  a  paternal  regard,  causing  them  to  learn  the 
psalms,  to  read  the  scHptures,  and  to  be  acquainted 
with  the  word  of  God;  and  in  this  way  should  provide 
themselves  with  worthy  successors.!  For  the  conve- 
nience of  the  people,  the  pastors  were  allowed  to  preach 
not  only  in  the  cities,  but  in  all  the  coimtry  parishes. 

About  this  time  the  monastic  rules  of  Benedict  were 
established,  which  afterwards  were  received  through 
the  western  churches.  They  are  full  of  forms,  and 
breathe  little  of  the  spirit  of  godliness.  The  ver}^  best 
thing  that  I  can  find  recorded  of  the  superstitious 
founder,  is  the  zeal  with  which  he  opposed  idolatry. 
In  that  part  of  Italy,  where  the  Samnites  dwelt  former^ 
ly,  the  worship  of  Apollo  had  been  still  continued, 
which  he  eradicated,  and  the  peasants  were  by  him 
instructed  in  Christianity. 

In  a  council  held  at  Clermont, J  in  the  year  535,  I 
see  canonical  methods  were  still  used  to  prevent  the 
interference  of  secular  power  in  the  appointment  of 
bishops.  "  To  correct  the  abuse  of  obtaining  bishop- 
rics by  the  favour  of  princes,  it  is  decreed,  that  he  who 
is  a  candidate  for  a  bishopric  shall  be  ordained  by  the 
election  of  the  clergy  and  citizens,  and  the  consent  of 
the  metropolitan,  without  making  use  of  the  protec- 
tion of  PERSONS  IN  POWER.  Otherwise  the  candidate 
shall  be  deprived  of  the  communion  of  the  church, 
which  he  is  desirous  of  governing." 

Hilderic,  king  of  the  Vandals  in  Africa,  having  been 

*  Fleury,  Id.  12. 

f  This  is  quite  consonant  to  the  ancient  method  of  educating-  men  for 
the  pastoral  offices,  and  supplied  the  want  of  ecclesiastical  semlni'nes. 
While  so  much  attention  was  paid  t^  education  and  tlie  word  of  God, 
there  is  i-eason  to  uelieve  that  the  doctrines  of  the  gospel  must  have  be«n 
taught  with  some  success  in  Frjince, 

*  Id.  44. 


32 

deposed  by  Gilimer,  Justinian,  by  his  renowned  ge- 
neral Belisariiis,  recovered  the  country  from  the  bar- 
barians, and  reunited  it  to  the  empire.  This  put  an 
end  to  the  dominion  of  arianism  in  that  region.  The 
orthodox  were  reinstated;  two  hundred  and  seven- 
teen bishops  held  a  council  at  Carthage;  arians  and 
donatists  were  forbidden  to  hold  assemblies;  and  the 
lands  which  had  been  taken  from  the  arians  were  re- 
stored by  an  edict  of  Justinian  in  the  year  535.  The 
face  of  true  religion  was  recovered  in  this  country;  its 
spirit  I  cannot  find.  The  best  symptom  was  the  exten- 
sion of  Christianity  among  the  Moors,  by  the  zealous 
care  of  Justinian.  How  far  any  cordial  change  took 
place  among  them  does  not  appear. 

In  the  year  536,  Belisarius,  the  hero  of  this  age,  took 
Rome  from  the  Goths,  thousrh  some  lime  elansed  after 
this  event  before  the  Gothic  power  was  annihilated  in 
Italy.  But  what  has  this  our  history  to  do  with  his  tri- 
umphs? His  master  showed  much  zeal  for  religion, 
though  ill  directed;  and,  what  is  worse,  not  principled 
with  the  genuine  fear  of  God.  The  general  scarce 
seemed  to  profess  any  religion  at  all ;  and  the  most  re- 
markable ecclesiastical  transaction  in  which  he  was 
concerned  is  sufficient  to  brand  his  name  with  eternal 
infamy.  A  very  brief  view  of  it  shall  suffice.*  Theo- 
dora, the  empress,  gave  an  order  to  Vigilius,  deacon 
of  the  Roman  church,  to  require  Belisarius  to  secure 
his  election  to  the  bishopric  of  Rome,  and  the  expul- 
sion of  Silverius,  at  that  time  bishop.  Vigilius  was  in 
that  case  to  present  Belisarius  with  two  hundred  pounds 
of  gold.  The  venal  general  executed  the  order  on  the 
infamous  conditions,  and  delivered  Silverius  into  the 
hands  of  Vigilius,  who  sent  him  into  the  island  of  Pal- 
maria,  where  he  died  of  hungerf .  It  was  worth  while 
just  to  mention  this  villany,  that,  if  any  persons  have 
been  seduced  into  an  admiration  of  the  character  of 

*  Fleuiy,  b.  xxxii,  57' 

f  So  Libcratus  in  Breviar;  but  Procopius,  a  living  witness,  says,  that  he 
was  murdered,  at  the  instig-ation  of  Antonina  the  wife  of  Belisarius,  bj 
£ugenia,  a  woman  devoted  to  her. 


S3 

Belisariiis  on  account  of  his  military  prowess,  they 
may  see  how  much  splendor  of  false  virtue  may  exist 
in  a  man  who  is  altogether  void  of  the  fear  of  God. 

Justinian,  though  at  first  he  seemed  to  take  some 
pains  to  correct  the  consequences  of  this  scandalous 
transaction  of  his  wife,  of  his  general,  and  of  the  un- 
principled bishop  of  Rome,  suffered  at  length  the  whole 
scheme  to  stand.  Still  he  persisted  to  meddle  in  reli- 
gious controversies,  and  issued  an  edict  for  the  con- 
demnation of  Origen's  errors. 

In  the  year  54-ii,  a  council  held  at  Orleans  ordered, 
that  if  any  person  desired  to  have  a  parish  church  erect- 
ed on  his  estate,!  he  should  first  be  obliged  to  endow 
it,  and  to  find  an  incumbent.  Hence  the  origin  of  pa- 
tronages. 

In  the  year  555  died  Vigilius,  bishop  of  Rome,  after 
having  governed  eighteen  years  in  the  see,  which  he 
had  so  iniquitously  obtained.  Selfish  duplicity  marked 
his  character  more  eminently  than  that  of  any  Roman 
bishop  before  him.  But  he  paid  dear  for  his  intrigues 
and  dissimulation.  Justinian,  who  had  the  ambition  of 
acting  as  an  infallible  judge  of  controversies  himself, 
suffered  not  Vigilius  to  be  the  pope  of  the  church. 
On  the  contrary,  a  little  before  his  death,  he  was, 
though  very  reluctant,  compelled  by  the  emperor  to 
consent  to  the  decrees  of  a  council  held  at  Constanti- 
nople; which,  by  the  influence  of  Justinian,  condem- 
ned the  writings  called  the  three  chapters;  that  is,  three 
books,  or  passages  of  books,  one  of  which  was  the 
work  of  the  pious  Theodoret  of  Cyrus.  The  contro- 
versy itself  was  idle  and  frivolous;  yet,  how  many 
pages  of  church  history,  so  called,  does  it  fill!  But 
I  can  find  no  vestige  of  piety  in  the  whole  transaction. 
"  Therefore  eternal  silence  be  its  doom." 

Several  western  bishops,  because  they  refused  to 
rondemm  the  three  chapters,  were  banished  by  the  or- 
der of  Justinian.  What  advantage  was  it  to  the  church, 
that  Italy  and  Africa  were  recovered  to  nominal  ortho- 

t  Fleury,  b.  xx-xiii,  15. 


34 
*(  

doxy,  and  to  the  Roman  empire,  when  she  was  thus 
oppressed  by  her  pretended  protector! 

Justinian,  in  his  old  age  fell  into  the  notion,  that  the 
_body  of  Jesus  Christ  was  incorruptible.  Having  once 
formed  the  sentiment,  he  drew  up  an  edict,  and,  in  his 
usual  manner,  required  his  subjects  to  embrace  it. 
Eutychius,  bishop  of  Constantinople,  had  the  honesty 
to  refuse  the  publication  of  it.  "  This,  said  he,  is  not 
the  doctrine  of  the  apostles.  It  would  follow  from 
thence,  that  the  incarnation  was  only  in  fancy.  How 
could  an  incorruptible  body  have  been  nourished  by 
the  milk  of  its  mother?  How  was  it  possible  for  it, 
when  on  the  cross  to  be  pierced  by  the  nails,  or  the 
lance?  It  cannot  be  called  incorruptible  in  any  other 
sense,  than  as  it  was  always  unpolluted  with  any  sin- 
ful defilement,  and  was  not  corrupted  in  the  grave." 

But  the  imperial  mandate  was  stronger  than  the  ar- 
guments of  the  bishop,  however  reasonable.  He  was 
roughly  treated,  was  banished  from  his  see,  and  he 
died  in  exile:  he  acted  however  uprightly,  and  seems 
from  his  integrity  to  have  been  a  christian  indeed. 
Anastasius,  bishop  of  Antioch,  resisted  also  with  njuch 
firmness:  he  was  a  person  of  exemplary  piety,  whom 
Justinian  in  vain  endeavoured  to  gain  over  to  his  sen- 
timents. As  he  knew  the  emperor-  iuiiended  to  banish 
him,  he  wrote  a  farewel  discourse  to  his  people.  He 
took  pains  to  confirm  the  minds  of  men  in  just  ideas 
of  the  human  nature  of  Christ,  and  daily  recited  in  the 
church  that  saying  of  the  apostle.  "  If  any  man  preach 
to  you  any  other  gospel  than  that  which  ye  have  re- 
ceived, let  him  be  accursed*."  The  example  of  a  truly 
holy  and  upright  person  supporting  a  just  cause  is  very 
prevalent.  Most  around  him  were  induced  to  imitate. 
An  opinion,  directly  subversive  of  the  real  sufferings 
of  Christ,  on  which  the  efficacy  of  his  atonement  de- 
pends, appeared  altogether  unchristian.  But  God  had 
provided  some  better  thing  for  us,  says  Evagrius. 
While  the  old  imperial  pope  was  dictating  the  sen- 

•  GjJ.  i.  Evagrius,  b.  iv.  toward  the  end 


35 

tence  of  banishment  against  Anastasius  and  other  pre- 
lates, he  was  seized  with  the  stroke  of  death.  Let  not 
profane  persons  exuk  over  him;  but  let  those  who  ex- 
ercise their  thoughts  on  religion,  take  care  to  study 
the  written  word  with  humility,  prayer,  and  pious 
reverence,  warned  by  the  apostasy  of  a  man,  who  for 
many  years  had  studied  divinity,  and  fell  at  last  into 
an  error,  equally  subversive  of  the  dictates  of  common 
sense,  as  it  is  of  christian  piety,  and  diametrically  op- 
posite to  all  scripture:  let  us  remember,  however,  that 
liib  follies  and  persecutions  were  the  occasion  of  exhi- 
biiing  some  excellent  characters  even  in  the  eastern 
church,  who  showed  that  thev  boie  noi  the  chiistian 
name  without  a  just  title  to  that  best  of  all  appella-: 
tions. 


CHAP.  IV. 

Miscellaneous  Affairs  to  the  End  of  the  Century. 

Justin,  the  nephew  of  Justinian,  succeeded*.  He 
recalled  the  bishops  whom  the  late  emperor  had  ex- 
iled, Eutychius  of  Constantinople  alone  excepted.  The 
reason  of  this  exception  I  cannot  learn;  but,  after  the 
decease  of  John,  his  successor,  who  held  the  see  twelve 
years,  Justin  was  prevailed  on  to  restore  Eutychius, 
who  conthmed  bishop  of  Constantinople  till  his  death. 
His  integrity  and  piety  should  scarce  be  doubted  after 
the  long  course  of  suftering  which  he  sustained  on 
account  of  the  faith  of  Jesus.  But,  in  his  old  age  he 
embraced  a  whimsical  notion,  that  om*  bodies  after  the 
resurrection  become  thinner  than  air.  A  notion  which 
it  would  not  have  been  worth  while  to  have  mentioned 
at  all  on  its  own  account.  But  it  is  a  specimen  of  the 
low  state  of  christian  knowledge  in  the  east,  and  of 
the  predominancy  of  origenism  and  platonism,  which 

'  Evagrius,  v.  c  3 


30 

had  never  "been  exterminated  in  Asia,  since  the\  had 
gained  admission  into  the  church.  For  the  opinion, 
though  not  so  fundamentally  erroneous  as  that  of  Jus- 
tinian, originated  from  the  same  chimerical  school: 
and  we  may  see  what  a  blessing  it  was  to  the  west  to 
have  been  instructed  in  christian  doctrines  of  grace 
through  Augustine,  whence  the  purity  and  simplicity 
of  the  faith  was  preserved  in  a  much  superior  manner, 
and  fantastic  notions  could  not  so  easily  be  received 
among  them.* 

A  number  of  Britons  having  been  expelled  from 
their  country  by  the  arms  of  the  Anglo-Saxons,  who 
had  entered  the  island  in  the  year  446,  crossed  the  sea, 
and  settled  in  the  adjacent  parts  of  France.  Hence  the 
origin  of  the  French  province  of  Britanny.  With  them 
the  faith  of  the  gospel  was  preserved,  as  well  as  with 
their  brethren  in  Wales  and  Cornwall,  and  some  parts 
of  Scotland  and  Ireland,  while  the  major  part  of  Eng- 
land was  covered  with  Saxon  idolatr}^  Sampson,  ori- 
ginally a  Welshman,  left  his  own  country  and  came 
into  Britanny.  This  man  founded  a  monastery  at  Dol, 
and  was  bishop  of  Dol  himself  some  years.  He  died 
about  the  year  565,  and  was  renowned  for  piety  and 
learning  in  his  day.  He  had  been  educated  in  his  na- 
tive country  by  Heltut,  who  was  said  to  have  been  the 
disciple  of  Germanus,  of  Auxerre.  Thus  the  seed  sown 
in  our  island  by  that  holy  person  brought  forth  fruit; 
and  it  is  only  to  be  regretted,  that  the  accounts  of  these 
things  are  so  slight  and  scanty.  About  the  same  time 
died  St.  Malo,  who,  to  prevent  his  being  appointed 
bishop  of  Winchester,  forsook  our  island,  and  fled  to  the 
coast  of  France,  To  the  west  of  Britanny  there  was  an 
Island,  called  x\letha,  now  called  St,  Malo's,  the  greatest 
part  of  the  inhabitants  of  which  were  pagans.  At  the 
desire  of  the  few  christians  who  v/ere  there,  Malo  la- 
boured among  them,  till  most  of  the  inhabitants  re- 
ceived the  gospel,  and  persuaded  him  to  reside  among 
them  as  their  bishop,  which  he  did  till  his  death,  t  Other 

'^  Eutychius,  however,  before  he  died,  retracted  his  error. 
-  Fleurv.  b.  xxxlv.  14. 


37 

British  bishops  are  celebrated,  who  in  the  same  age^ 
were  distinguished  for  their  piety  and  useful  labours 
in  Britanny. 

Gildas,  surnamed  the  Wise,  another  disciple  of  Hel- 
tut,  was  born  at  Dunbritton,  in  Scotland;  he  preached 
with  much  success,  in  the  best  sense,  so  far  as  appears, 
in  his  native  country  and  in  Ireland.  He  afterwards 
came  over  into  Britanny,  and  built  the  monastery  of 
Buis,  which  is  still  called  by  his  name,  says  my  author. 
Two  of  his  discourses  on  the  ruin  of  Great-Britain  are 
still  extant,  in  which  he  deplores  the  vices  and  cala- 
mities of  the  times,  and  with  honest  vehemence  exhorts 
to  repentance  six  British  princes,  ascribing  the  deso- 
lations made  by  the  Saxons  to  the  depravity  of  his 
countrymen.  He  addresses  with  much  spirit  the  clergy 
of  Great  Britain,  and  rebukes  them  for  their  ignorance, 
avarice,  and  simony. 

From  these  hints,  in  conjunction  with  what  has  been 
elsewhere  related,  these  things  are  evident;  namely, 
that  there  had  been  a  considerable  degree  of  pure  re- 
ligion among  our  ancestors  before  the  invasion  of  the 
Saxons;  that  even  after  the  declension  and  decay,  there 
were  still  faithful  pastors,  who  carried  bacJ^  into  France 
with  success  that  spirit  of  godliness  ^vhich  the  latter 
country,  by  the  means  of  Germanas,  of  Auxerre,  had 
brought  over  into  our  island;  and  that  the  poison  of 
pelagianism  must  have  had  a  considerable  influence 
in  the  production  of  that  jiational  decay  of  piety,  which 
Gildas  so  feelingly  deplores. 

Colomban,  an  Irish  priest  in  this  century,  came  over 
into  the  northern  parts  of  Scotland,  and  laboured  with 
much  success  among  the  Picts.*  The  southern  parts 
of  Scotland  had  been  evangelized  long  before  by  the 
instructions  of  Ninias,  a  British  bishop,  who  had  him- 
self been  instructed  at  Rome.  Colomban  lived  thirty- 
four  years  after  his  passage  into  Britain.  His  disciples 
were  remarkable  for  the  holiness  and  abstemiousness 

*  Probably  they  were  originally  Britons,  who  fled  mto  Scotland  from, 
the  arms  of  the  Saxons,  and  were  called  Picts,  because  they  painteH  tY'i'iv 
bodies,  according-  to  the  ciistpm  of  our  barbarous  ancestors 

Vol.  hi.  6 


38 

of  their  lives.  'I'hus,  while  the  gospel  was  rapidly 
withdrawing  from  the  east,  where  it  first  arose,  God 
left  not  himself  without  witness  in  the  most  distant 
parts  of  the  west. 

Radegimda,  daughter  of  Bertharius,  king  of  Thu- 
ringia,  having  been  taken  captive  by  the  Franks  in  her 
infancy,  fell  to  the  lot  of  king  Clotaire,  who  married 
her.  This  woman  might  have  been  added  to  the  list 
of  those  pious  persons  of  her  sex,  who  were  made 
highly  instrumental  in  instructing  mankind,  had  she 
not  imbibed  monastic  ideas,  the  pest  which  infected 
godly  persons,  in  general,  in  these  times,  and  which, 
though  it  could  not  ruin  their  relation  to  God,  cut  off 
the  greatest  part  of  their  usefulness.  She  obtained  a 
separation  from  her  husband,  and  followed  the  monas- 
tic rules  with  great  austerity  to  her  death.  These  rules 
were  now  gro^vn  stricter  than  ever;  the  vows  were 
made  perpetual,  and  we  must  leave  this  godly  queen 
in  the  nunnery,  who  might  have  caused  her  light  to 
shine  in  a  blessed  manner  in  the  world. 

Toward  the  latter  end  of  this  century  the  Lombards 
came  from  Pannonia  into  Ital}^  and  settled  there  under 
Alboinus,  their  first  king.  They  fixed  their  metropolis 
at  Pavia.  As  iliey  were  arians  by  profession,  heresy 
again  took  root  in  Italy,  whose  inhabitants  felt  all  the 
horrors  and  miseries  which  a  savage  and  victorious  na- 
tion could  inflict.  But  the  church  needed  the  scourge: 
the  Roman  see  had  been  dreadfully  corrupt  under 
Vigilius,  and  formal  superstition  was  corroding  the 
vitals  of  genuine  godliness. 

At  the  same  time  John  Climmachus  flourished,  who 
>vas  abbot  of  the  monastery  of  Mount  Sinai,  in  Arabia, 
near  to  which  was  a  little  monastery,  called  the  Prison, 
in  which  all  who  had  committed  any  great  crime,  since 
they  entered  on  the  monastic  state,  voluntarily  confined 
themselves.  The  account  which  Climmachus  gives  of 
it  is  striking.  The  poor  prisoners  spent  their  time  in 
prayer,  with  every  possible  external  mark  of  selfdenial 
and  wretchedness.  They  did  not  allow  themselves  any 
one  comfort  of  human  life.  In  their  prayers  they  did 


39 

not  dare  to  ask  to  be  delivered  intirely  from  punish- 
ment; they  only  begged  not  to  be  punished  with  the 
utmost  rigor.  The  voluntary  torments  they  endured 
were  amazing,  and  this  voluntary  humility  of  theirs 
continued  till  death.  But  I  turn  from  the  disagreeable 
scene  to  make  one  remark. 

How  precious  is  the  light  of  the  gospel!  How  gladly, 
we  may  suppose,  would  many  of  these  miserable  per- 
sons have  received  the  doctrine  of  free  forgiveness  by 
faith  in  the  atoning  blood  of  Jesus  Christ,  if  it  had 
been  faithfully  preached  among  them!  How  does  their 
seriousness  rebuke  the  levity  of  presumptuous  sinners 
among  ourselves,  who  trifle  w  ith  the  light!  How  deeply 
fallen  was  the  east  from  the  real  genius  of  Christianity, 
when  men  distressed  for  sin  could  find  no  hope  but  in 
their  own  formalities  and  rigid  austerities! 

In  the  year  584,  Levigildus,  king  of  the  Visigoths 
in  Spain,  having  married  his  eldest  son  Hermenigil- 
dus,  to  Ingonda,  daughter  of  the  French  king,  began 
to  find  effects  from  the  marriage,  which  he  little  ex- 
pected. Ingonda,  though  persecuted  by  her  mother 
in  law,  the  wife  of  the  Spanish  monarch,  persevered 
in  orthodoxy,  and,  by  the  assistance  of  Leander, 
bishop  of  Seville,  under  the  influence  of  divine  grace, 
brought  over  her  husband  to  the  faith.  The  father, 
enraged,  commenced  a  grievous  persecution  against 
the  orthodox  in  his  dominions.  Hermenigildus  was 
led  into  the  grievous  error  of  rebelling  against  his 
father,  not  through  ambition,  it  seems,  but  througli 
fear  of  his  father,  who  appeared  to  be  bent  on  his 
destruction.  Being  obliged  to  fly  into  a  church,  he 
was  induced  by  his  father's  promises  to  surrender 
himself.  Levigildus  at  first  treated  him  with  kindness, 
but  afterwards  banished  him  to  Valentia.  His  wife 
Ingonda  flying  to  the  Grecian  emperor  died  by  the 
way.  Some  time  after,  the  young  prince,  loaded  with 
irons,  had  leisure  to  learn  the  vanity  of  earthly  great- 
ness, and  exhibited  every  mark  of  piety  and  humility. 
His  father  sent  to  him  an  arian  bishop,  ofi'ering  him 
his  favour,  if  he  would  receive  the  communion  at  his 


■^;- 


40 

hands.  Hermcnigildus  continued  firm  in  the  faith, 
and  the  king,  enraged,  sent  ofiicers  who  despatched 
him.  The  father  Hved  however  to  repent  of  his  cruel- 
ty; and  the  young  prince,  notwithstanding  the  unjus- 
tifiable step  into  Avhich  his  passions  had  betrayed  him, 
had  lived  long  enough  to  give  a  shining  example  of 
christian  piety.  Levigildus,  before  he  died,  desired 
Leander,  bishop  of  Seville,  whom  he  had  much  per- 
secuted, to  educate  his  second  son  Recaredus*  in  the 
Same  principles  in  which  he  had  instructed  his  eldest. 
Recaredus  succeeded  his  father  in  the  government, 
and  embraced  orthodoxy  with  much  zeal.  The  con- 
sequence was  the  establishment  of  orthodoxy  in  Spain, 
and  the  destruction  of  arianism,  which  had  now  no 
legal  settlement  in  the  world,  except  with  the  Lom- 
bards in  Italy.  Though  this  account  be  general  and 
external,  it  seemed  proper  to  give  it,  as  an  illustrious 
instance  of  the  work  of  divine  providence,  eflecting, 
by  the  means  of  a  pious  princess,  a  very  salutary 
revolution  in  religion. 

I  have  collected  in  this  chapter  the  few  events 
which  appeared  worthy  of  notice  from  the  death  of 
Justinian  to  the  end  of  this  century,  with  a  studied 
exclusion  of  the  concerns  of  Gregory  the  first,  bishop 
of  Rome.  He  is  a  character  deserving  to  be  exhibited 
distinctly.  And  in  connexion  with  his  affairs,  what- 
ever else  has  been  omitted,  which  falls  within  our 
plan,  may  be  introduced  in  the  next  chapter. 

*  Gveg'ory  of  Tours,  b.  viii.  c,  nit. 


4i 


CHAP.  V. 

Gregory  the  Firsts  Bishop  of  Rome-, 

HIS  PASTORAL  LABOURS. 

riE  was  a  Roman  by  birth,  aiid  of  a 'noble  family. 
But  being  religiously  disposed,  he  assumed  the  mo- 
nastic  habit,  and  was  eminently  distinguished  by  the 
progress  he  made  in  piety.*  It  was  not  till  after  he 
was  drawn  back,  in  a  degree,  to  a  secular  life  by  his 
employments  in  the  church,  that  he  became  thorougly 
sensible  what  fidvantage  he  had  enjoyed  for  his  own 
soul  from  religious  retirement.  With  tears  he  owned, 
that  he  had  had  the  world  under  his  feet,  while  he  was 
absorbed  in  heavenly  contemplation;  but  was  now  bereft 
of  comfort.  "  Now,"  says  he,  "  my  mind,  by  reason 
of  pastoral  cares,  is  oppressed  with  the  business  of 
secular  persons,  and  after  so  fair  an  appearance  of  rest, 
is  defiled  with  the  dust  of  earthly  action.  And  suffer- 
ing itself  to  be  distracted  by  exterior  things  in  con- 
descension to  many,  even  while  it  desires  inward 
things,  it  returns  to  them,  without  doubt,  more  faintly. 
I  weigh,  therefore,  what  I  en^re :  I  weigh  what  I 
have  lost,  and  while  I  look  at  that  which  I  have  lost, 
my  present  burdens  are  more  heavy." 

In  truth,  in  different  periods  of  his  life  he  moved  in 
opposite  extremes.  He  was  one  while  dormant  in  the 
quietism  of  solitude ;  another  while,  involved  in  the 
multiplicity  of  episcopal  cares  at  Rome.  If  his  lot  had 
l:)een  cast  in  the  earlier  aiud  purer  days  of  Christianity, 
he  would  neither  have  been  a  monk,  nor  a  bishop 
charged  with  such  extensive  secular  concerns,  and  so 

*  Bede  Eccles.  Hist.  b.  ii.  c.  1. 

It  should  be  obsei'ved  here,  that  before  this  he  had  studied  the  Roman 
jurisprudence,  was  eminent  in  that  and  every  other  fashionable  secular 
kind  of  knowledge,  had  been  distinguished  as  a  senator,  and  promoted 
by  Justin  II.  to  the  government  of  the  city  of  Rome,  an  aj'duous  and  im- 
portant office,  which  he  had  discharged  with  singular  prudence,  fidelity, 
and  justice. 


42 

xvould  have  av^oided  the  evils  of  AAhich  he  compkiins. 
The  great  sees  in  these  times,  that  of  Rome  in  parti- 
cular, through  the  increasing  growth  of  spiritual  domi- 
nation, and  the  load  of  worldly  business  very  impro- 
perly connected  with  it,  worldly,  though  in  some 
sense  ecclesiastical,  were  indeed  agreeable  enough  to 
minds  like  that  of  Vigilius,  earthly  and  ambitious, 
but  were  fatiguing  beyond  measure  to  men  like  Gre- 
gory, who  unfeignedly  loved  heavenly  things.  Nothing 
could  be  more  unwise  than  the  custom  which  prevail- 
ed of  encouraging  monasticism  and  very  large  epis- 
copal governments  at  the  same  time.  The  transition 
from  the  one  to  the  other,  as  in  Gregory's  case  (and 
it  was  a  common  one)  must  to  holy  minds,  like  his, 
have  been  a  trial  of  no  small  magnitude.  The  serious 
complaints,  however,  which  Gregory  made  of  this 
trial  during  the  whole  scene  of  his  bishopric,  pro- 
ceeded from  the  spirituality  of  his  affections;  and  all, 
who  have  enjoyed  in  private  the  sweets  of  communion 
with  God,  and  have  found  how  difficult  it  is,  in  the 
hurry  of  business,  to  preserve  a  degree  of  the  same 
spirit,  will  sympathize  with  him.  A  mediocrity  and  a 
mixture  of  employment  and  retirement  are,  doubtless, 
the  best  situation  for  religious  improvement. 

Being  drawn  from  his  monastery,  and  ordained  to 
the  ministry,  he  was  sent  from  Rome  to  Constantino- 
ple, to  transact  ecclesiastical  affairs.  Here  he  became 
acquainted  with  Leander,  afterw^ards  bishop  of  Seville, 
the  same  person  that  we  have  spoken  of  in  the  relation 
of  the  affairs  of  Spain.  Leander  and  he  found  in  each 
other  a  similarity  of  taste  and  spirit;  Gregory  opened 
his  heart  to  him.  "  I  found  my  soul,"  says  he,  "  con- 
vinced of  the  necessity  of  securing  salvation;  but  I 
delayed  too  long,  entangled  with  the  world.  At  length 
I  threw  myself  into  a  monastery;  now  I  thought  I  had 
placed  an  insuperable  bar  between  myself  and  the 
world.  But  again  I  am  tossed  on  the  tempestuous 
ocean,  and  unless  I  may  enjoy  the  communion  of  my 
brethren,  I  can  find  no  solace  to  my  soul."* 

*  Grcg'or.  Pref.  to  Jo!?,  c.  i. 


43 

He  had,  however,  taken  with  him  some  of  the  bre- 
thren of  his  monastery,  and  with  them  had  enjoyed 
the  benefit  of  christian  discourse,  and  of  searching 
the  scriptures.  Here,  by  the  exhortation  of  his  bre- 
thren, he  began  his  long  commentary  on  the  book  of 
Job,  which  he  finished  in  his  episcopacy.*  His  resi- 
dence at  Constantinople  was  not  without,  at  least,  some 
use  to  the  church.  By  Jiis  arguments  and  influence  he 
quashed  the  fanciful  notion  of  the  archbishop  Euty- 
chius  concerning  the  qualities  of  the  human  body  after 
the  resurrection,  which  has  been  mentioned  already. 
Had  it  not  been  for  the  timely  and  vigorous  opposi- 
tion of  a  man  so  respectable  as  Gregory  was  for  know- 
ledge and  piety,  the  notion  might  have  continued  with 
many,  to  the  disgrace  of  Christianity,  at  this  day- 
The  emperor  Tiberius,  who  had  succeeded  Justin, 
supported  the  labours  of  Gregory  with  his  authority. 

Gregory,  even  from  his  youth,  was  afflicted  with 
frequent  complaints  in  his  stomach  and  bowels;  and 
by  his  own  account  in  his  letters,  appears  to  have  suf- 
fered much  in  his  body  all  his  days.  The  vigor  of  his 
mind  was  not  however  depressed,  and  perhaps  few 
men  ever  profited  more  than  he  did  by  such  chastise- 
ments. His  labours,  both  as  a  pastor  and  an  author, 
were  continued,  and,  in  all  probability,  received  pecu- 
liar unction  from  his  afflictions. 

After  his  return  to  Rome,+  there  was  so  great  an 
inundation  of  the  Tiber,  that  it  flowed  upon  the  walls 
of  the  city,  and  threw  down  many  monuments^  and 
ancient  structures.  The  granaries  of  the  church  were 
overflowed,  by  which  a  prodigious  quantity  of  wheat 
was  lost.  Presently  after,  an  infectious  distemper  in- 
vaded the  city.  Pelagius  the  bishop  fell  a  victim  to  it 
among  the  first.  The  destruction  prevailed,  and  many 
houses  were  left  without  an  inhabitant.  In  this  distress 
the  people  were  anxious  to  choose  a  bishop  in  the 

*  Bede. 

■j"  Vita  Gregor.  incert.  autor. 

i  These  inundations  of  the  Tiber  were  not  uncommon.  The  classical 
reader  will  recollect  in  Horace,  Ode  ii.  i'b.  i. 

Ire  dejectuni  momimenta  reg'is,  &c. 


44 

room  of  the  deceased  Pelagius,  and  by  unanimous 
consent  the  election  fell  upon  Gregory.  He,  with  thafe- 
humility  which  formed  invariably  a  striking  feature  of 
his  character,  earnestly  refused,  and  loudly  proclaim- 
ed his  own  unworthiness.  He  did  more;  he  wrote  to 
Mauritius,  the  successor  of  Tiberius,  beseeching  him 
to  withhold  his  assent.^  Germanus,  the  governor  of 
Constantinople,  intercepting  the  messenger,  and  open- 
ing the  letter  of  Gregory,  informed  Mauritius  of  the 
election.  The  emperor  confirmed  it  with  pleasure.  In 
the  mean  time  the  plague  continued  to  make  dreadful 
havoc;  and  Gregory,  however  backward  to  receive 
the  office  of  a  bishop,  forgot  not  the  duties  of  a  pastor. 
A  part  of  his  sermon  on  this  occasion  may  give  us 
some  idea  of  the  best  preaching  of  those  times ;  for  I 
know  none  in  those  days,  which  is  superior,  and  but 
little  which  is  equal,  to  that  of  Gregory. 

"  Beloved  brethren,  we  ought  to  have  feared  the 
scourge  of  God  before  it  came;  at  least,  after  having 
felt  it,  let  us  tremble.  Let  grief  open  to  us  the  pas- 
sages of  conversion,  and  let  the  punishment  which  we 
feel  dissolve  the  hardness  of  our  hearts.  For,  to  use 
the  prophet's  language,  'the  sword  hath  come  even  into 
the  soul.'  Our  people,  behold,  are  smitten  with  a  wea- 
pon of  divine  indignation,  and  each  is  carried  off  by 
the  rapid  devastation.  Languor  does  not  precede  death, 
but  death  itself  with  hasty  strides,  as  you  see,  outstrips 
the  tardy  course  of  languor.  Every  person,  who  is 
smitten,  is  carried  off,  before  he  has  opportunity  to 
bewail  his  sins.  Conceive  in  what  state  that  man  will 
appear  before  his  Judge,  who  is  hurried  off  in  the 
midst  of  his  sins. — Let  each  of  us  repent,  while  we 
have  time  to  weep,  before  the  sword  devour  us. — Let 
us  call  our  ways  to  remembrance. — Let  us  come  before 

*  The  assent  of  the  emperor  to  the  election  of  a  bishop  of  Rome  appears 
plainly  to  have  been  necessary  by  the  custom  of  these  times.  But  the  total 
exclusion  of  the  people  from  all  concern  in  these  appointments  had  not  yet 
obtained.  It  is  obvious  to  be  noticed  also,  how  dependent  the  bishop  of 
Rome  was  on  the  emperor.  Antichrist  had  not  yet  formally  begun  his 
reign,  nor  would  have  been  known  at  Rome  to  this  day,  hud  all  the  bishops 
resemi)led  Gretrorv. 


45 

his  face  with  confession,  and  Hft  up  our  hearts  with 
our  hands  to  the  Lord.  Truly  he  gives,  he  gives  to 
our  trembhng  hearts  a  confidence,  who  proclaims  by 
the  prophet:  '  I  would  not  the  death  of  a  sinner,  but 
rather  that  he  be  converted  and  live.'  Let  none  de- 
spair on  account  of  the  greatness  of  his  crimes.  Think 
how  the  inveterate  evils  of  the  Ninevites  were  wiped 
off  by  three  days'  repentance;|  and  the  converted  rob- 
ber in  the  very  article  of  death  obtained  the  rewards 
of  life.  Let  us  change  our  hearts,  and  encourage  our- 
selves beforehand  with  the  thought  that  we  have  ob- 
tained  what  we  ask. — Importunity,  so  disagreeable  to 
man,  is  well  pleasing  to  the  Judge  of  truth;  because 
the  good  and  merciful  Lord  loves  to  be  overcome  by 
prayers.  Remember  the  psalmist:  *  call  upon  me  in 
the  time  of  trouble;  so  will  I  hear  thee,  and  thou  shalt 
praise  me.'  He  admonishes  us  to  call  upon  his  name, 
and  witnesses  by  this  his  readiness  to  forgive." 

He  concluded  his  discourse  with  appointing  a  lita- 
ny* to  be  performed  by  seven  companies,  who  were 
to  march  at  break  of  day  from  different  churches,  and 
to  meet  at  one  place.  The  first  company  consisted  of 
the  clergy;  the  second,  of  abbots  with  their  monks; 
the  third,  of  abbesses  with  their  nuns;  the  fourth,  of 
children;  the  fifth,  of  laymen;  the  sixth,  of  widows; 
the  seventh,  of  married  women.  Fourscore  persons  in 
one  hour,  while  the  people  were  supplicating  in  the 
litany,  died  of  the  plague.  Gregory,  however,  persisted 
in  praying  and  preaching,  till  the  plague  ceased. 

He  was  all  this  time  as  eager  to  avoid  the  honour 
of  the  episcopal  office,  as  he  was  to  discharge  the  duty 
of  it.  The  gates  were  watched,  and  his  flight  was  pre- 
vented for  a  time.  But  he  found  means  to  be  conveyed 
in  a  wicker  basket  out  of  the  city,  and  concealed  him- 
self three  days.  The  zealous  search  of  the  people  dis- 


^  I  translate  faithfull_y;  the  expression  marks  the  want  of  evangelical  ac- 
curacy in  Gregory,  though  not  surely  the  want  of  evangelical  humility.  It 
is  not  to  be  imagined,  that  he  considered  repentance  as  a  proper  atonement 
for  sin. 

*  The  word  signifies  supplication^ 

Vol.  HL  7 


40 

lovered  him  at  length,  and  he  was  obliged  to  entei' 
upon  his  bishopric.  This  happened  in  the  year  590. 

Gregory  continued  to  discharge  the  office  in  the 
same  spirit  in  which  he  began  it.  Other  bishops  had 
been  sedulous  to  adorn  churches  with  gold  or  silver; 
he  gave  himself  wholly,  so  far  as  he  could,  to  the  care 
of  souls.*  The  melancholy  circumstances  of  his  ac- 
cession corresponded  with  the  gloomy  state  of  the 
church,  in  the  east  almost  universally  fallen,  in  the 
west  tarnished  with  much  superstition,  and  defiled  by 
variety  of  wickedness.  The  whole  period  of  his  epis- 
copacy, which  was  thirteen  years  and  a  half,t  was 
disastrous  beyond  measure,  because  of  the  ferocious 
Lombards;  and  Gregory  himself  was  firmly  persuaded, 
that  the  end  of  the  world  was  near.  Hence  he  had  evi- 
dently a  strong  contempt  of  sublunary  things,  and 
loved  to  refresh  his  mind  with  prospects  beyond  the 
grave.  Nor  has  the  sceptical,  philosophical  taste,  as 
it  is  called,  of  this  day,  any  reason  to  plume  itself  on 
comparison  with  that  of  Gregory.  What  is  there,  for 
instance,  in  the  scene  we  have  been  just  reviewing, 
which  should  excite  the  contempt  of  the  philosopher, 
or  rather,  of  the  infidel  who  calls  himself  philosopher? 
Some  superstition  has  appeared  in  it:  it  was  an  age  of 
fsuperstition:  the  form  of  Christianity  was  degenerated 
even  in  the  best;  but  the  divine  religion  sparkled 
through  the  gloom  in  the  real  life  of  humility,  faith, 
and  repentance.  The  spiritual  benefit  of  many,  it  is 
highly  probable,  resulted  from  the  pastoral  labours  and 
litanies  of  Gregory;  and  whether  is  more  rational, 
namely,  to  fear  the  wrath  of  God,  when  his  hand  is 
upon  us,  to  weep  and  pray,  and  implore  his  grace  and 
mercy,  in  reliance  on  the  promises  of  his  word,  be- 
holding the  scourge  as  really  sent  from  God,  or  to 
harden  the  heart  in  jocose  and  fastidious  sneers  at  the 
weakness  of  superstition,  and  to  see  nothing  and  to 
learii  nothing,  that  may  lead  us  to  repentance,  from  the 
desolating  judgments  of  the  Almighty? 

*  Becle.  t  Bede. 


47 

In  Gregory's  works  we  have  a  collection  of  epistles, 
which  will  give  us  a  view  of  his  labours  and  transac- 
tions. Discipline,  and  indefatigable  attention  to  order, 
justice,  mercy,  and  piety,  mark  all  his  proceedings. 
The  inordinate  amplitude  of  authority  and  of  exten- 
sive jurisdiction,  to  which  superstition  had  already  ad- 
vanced the  Roman  see,  and  which  afforded  such  copi- 
ous fuel  to  pride  and  ambition  in  some  of  his  prede- 
cessors,  and  many  of  his  successors,  was  to  him  only 
the  cause  of  anxious  care  and  conscientious  solicitude. 
Italy  and  Sicil}'  were  of  themselves  too  large  a  theatre 
of  action;  but  with  the  government  of  these  he  re- 
ceived the  prevailing  notion  of  a  superintendence  of 
the  Roman  see  over  all  the  churches,  derived  from  St. 
Peter.  In  him,  at  least,  the  idea  excited  no  pleasing- 
sensations  of  dominion.  A  fatherly  inspection  of  Chris- 
tendom without  civil  power  called  him  to  incessant  la 
bour;  beside  that  his  own  diocese  was  much  too  great 
for  any  one  man's  capacity.  Humility  and  the  fear  of 
God  were  his  ruling  dispositions ;  and  it  is  evident  to 
a  careful  observer  of  Gregory,  that  he  exerted  autho- 
rity in  full  consistency  with  these.  Moreover  he  found 
time  to  expound  the  scriptures,  to  perform  the  office 
of  a  sedulous  pastor,  and  to  write  much  for  the  in- 
struction of  mankind.  Deeply  must  the  spirit  of  that 
man  have  been  impressed  with  the  prospects  and 
hopes  of  immortality,  who  amidst  bodily  infirmities., 
and  in  times  of  public  perplexity,  could  persevere  in 
such  a  course  of  arduous  labours.  I  shall  endeavour  to 
enable  the  reader  to  form  a  judgment  for  himself  of 
the  man  by  a  reviev/  of  his  letters;  omitting  those 
which  are  the  least  interesting. 

He  directed  the  bishops  of  Sicily  to  hold  an  annual 
visitation  at  Syracuse  or  Catana  under  his  subdeacon, 
and  to  attend  in  it  to  things  which  related  to  the  pub- 
lic and  ecclesiastical  welfare,  to  relieve  the  necessities 
of  the  poor  and  oppressed,  and  to  admonish  and  cor- 
rect those  who  had  fallen  into  errors.  In  which  coun- 
cil he  begs  that  they  would  be  guarded  against  ma- 


48 

lice,  envy,  and  discord,  and  maintain  a  godly  unity 
and  charity.* 

He  reminds  the  pretor  of  Sicily,  whose  duty  it  was 
to  send  corn  into  Italy  from  that  fruitful  granary  of 
the  empire,  to  be  just  and  equitable  in  his  dealings, 
to  remember  that  life  is  short,  that  he  must  soon  ap- 
pear before  the  Judge  of  all,  and  that  he  can  carry 
away  with  him  nothing  of  his  gains,  and  that  only  the 
causes  and  methods  of  his  gains  will  follow  him  to 
judgment.! 

To  a  friend  he  writes  thus  on  his  promotion.  "  I 
value  not  the  congratulations  of  strangers  on  my  ad- 
vancement. But  it  is  a  serious  grief  to  me,  that  you, 
who  know  me  throughly,  should  felicitate  me  on  the 
occasion.  Ye  have  long  known  my  wish;  I  should 
have  obtained  the  rest  which  I  sought,  could  I  have 
been  gratified  in  it."| 

"  If  charity,"  says  he,  writing  to  John  bishop  of 
Constantinople,  "  consist  in  the  love  of  our  neigh- 
bour, why  do  not  ye  love  me,  as  yourselves?  With 
what  ardor  and  zeal  ye  would  fly  from  the  weight  of 
episcopacy  I  know,  and  yet  ye  took  no  pains  to  hinder 
the  imposition  of  this  burden  on  me.  But  as  the  go- 
vernment of  an  old  and  crazy  vessel  is  committed  to 
me  weak  and  unworthy  as  I  am,  I  beseech  you,  by ' 
the  Lord,  that  you  would  stretch  out  the  hand  of 
prayer  to  my  relief.  "§ 

The  employment  of  deciding  causes,  which  in 
these  times  fell  to  the  lot  of  bishops,  must  have  been 
tedious  and  burdensome  to  a  mind  of  conscientious 
exactness,  like  that  of  Gregory.  Hear  how  feelingly 
he  complains  of  the  load  in  a  letter  to  Theoctista, 
sister  to  the  emperor. 

"  Under II  colour  of  the  bishopric  I  find  I  am 
brought  back  to  the  world,  in  which  I  am  enslaved 
to  such  a  quantity  of  earthly  cares,  as  I  never  remem- 
ber to  have  been  infested  with  in  my  lay  capacity.  I 
have  lost  the  sublime  joys  of  myself,  and  sinking  in- 
wardly, seem  to  rise  externally.  I  deplore  my  expul- 

*B.i.  ep.  1.         fEp.  2.         ^Ep.  3.         §  Ep.  4.        ||  Ep.  5. 


49 

sion  from  the  face  of  my  Maker.  I  was  endeavoutii\g 
to  live  out  of  the  world  and  the  flesh;  to  drive  away 
all  the  phantasms  of  body  from  the  eyes  of  my  mind, 
and  to  see  supernal  joys  mentally,  and  with  my  in- 
most soul  panting  after  God,  I  said,  my  heart  hath 
said  to  thee,  '  thy  face.  Lord,  will  I  seek.'  Desiring 
nothing,  and  fearing  nothing  of  the  world,  I  seemed 
to  have  almost  realized  that  of  the  prophet.  '  I  will 
cause  thee  to  ride  upon  the  high  places  of  the  earth.' 
Surely  it  is  so  with  him,  who  looks  down  from  his 
intellectual  elevation  on  all  the  grandeur  and  glory  of 
the  earth.  But  suddenly  from  the  height  of  peace  and 
stability,  impelled  by  the  whirlwind  of  this  tempta- 
tion, I  have  fallen  into  fears  and  terrors;  because, 
though  I  fear  not  for  myself,  I  fear  much  for  those 
who  are  committed  to  my  charge :  I  am  shaken  with 
the  fluctuations  of  causes  on  all  sides,  and  say,  '  I  am 
come  into  deep  waters,  so  that  the  floods  run  over 
me.'  After  the  hurry  of  causes  is  over,  I  desire  to 
return  to  my  heart,  but  excluded  from  it  by  the  vain 
tumults  of  thoughts,  I  cannot  return."  Such  is  the 
picture  which  Gregory  draws  of  his  mental  situation 
in  the  midst  of  all  his  envied  greatness.  Experience 
and  habit  might  in  time  lessen  his  anxieties.  Nor  was 
it  through  want  of  capacity  for  business  that  he  suT- 
fured  thus  extremely.  No  age  ever  saw  a  bishop  more 
vigorous,  firm,  and  circumspect.  The  immensity  of 
ecclesiastical  employment,  which  went  through  his 
hands,  seems  almost  incredible.  I  rejoice  to  find  in 
him  such  vivid  tokens  of  that  spiritual  sensibility  and 
life,  which  it  is  the  great  business  of  this  history  to 
delineate,  as  it  appeared  from  age  to  age  in  the  church, 
and  which  distinguishes  real  christians  as  much  from 
nominal  ones,  as  from  all  other  men.  In  the  mean 
time  I  have  to  regret,  that  while  the  power  and  expe- 
rience of  godliness  decayed,  the  amplitude  of  bishop- 
rics was  so  much  augmented,  and  that  so  much  ex- 
traneous matter,  which  ought  to  have  been  committed 
to  other  hands,  was  thrown  upon  them.  The  conse- 
quence has  been,  that  the  dignitaries  of  the  chtir(?h 


50 

,(,liave  ever  since  been  thrown  into  circumstances  pe- 
culiarly disadvantageous.  Those  of  a  secular  spirit  have 
toiled  with  eagerness  in  the  work,  for  worldly  and 
selfish  ends,  without  feeling  any  injury  to  the  spiritual 
life,  because  they  had  none:  those  of  an  heavenly 
spirit  have  felt  like  Gregory  under  the  united  pres- 
sures of  conscientious  care  and  the  tumult  of  thoughts 
very  alien  from  the  christian  life,  and  tending  to  ex- 
tinguish it. 

The  pious  and  upright  Anastasius  of  Antioch "  has 
been  already  introduced  to  the  reader's  notice.  Gre- 
gory had  contracted  an  intimacy  with  him  while  in 
the  east,  and  he  writes  to  him  thus  in  answer  to  his 
letter.  "  I  received  your  letter,  as  a  weary  man  does 
rest,  as  a  sick  man  health,  as  a  thirsty  person  a  foun- 
tain, as  one  overcome  with  heat  a  shade.  I  read  not 
mere  words;  I  perceived  the  heart  itself  to  be  disco- 
vering your  affection  towards  me  in  the  spirit."  He 
goes  on  to  complain  of  Anastasius's  cruel  kindness  in 
having  contributed  to  his  promotion,  and  describes 
his  burdens  in  his  usual  manner.  "  But  when  you  call 
me  the  mouth  and  lamp  of  the  Lord,  and  a  person 
capable  of  profiting  many,  this  is  added  to  the  load 
of  my  iniquities,  that  I  receive  praise  instead  of  punish- 
ment for  my  sins.  How  I  am  overloaded,  no  words 
can  express;  you  may  form  some  idea  from  the  bre- 
vity of  my  letter,  in  which  I  say  so  little  to  him  whom 
I  love  above  all.  I  have  begged  of  the  emperor  to 
allow  you  to  visit  me  at  Rome,  that  while  I  enjoy 
your  company,  we  may  relieve  the  tediousness  of  our 
pilgrimage  by  conversing  together  of  the  heavenly 
country."*  It  is  not  easy  for  persons,  unacquainted 
with  their  own  heart,  to  believe  all  this  sense  of  un- 
worthiness  to  be  genuine  in  Gregory;  men  who  know 
themselves  will  believe,  that  he  spake  sincerely. 

Gregory  was  solicitous  for  the  conversion  of  the 
Lombards  from  the  arian  heresy,  and  therefore  he 
wrote  to  the  bishops  of  Italy,  to  avail  themselves  of 

*  Ep.  7. 


51 

their  influence  to  unite  all  the  young  persons  of  that 
nation,  who  had  been  baptized  in  the  arian  commu- 
nion, to  the  general  church,  to  preach  to  them  the 
doctrine'  of  eternal  life,  and  to  secure  to  themselves  a 
pleasing  account  of  their  pastoral  labours  at  the  last 
day.*  Under  his  administration  a  gradual  accession 
of  this  people  was  made  to  the  church,  notwithstand- 
ing the  great  power  of  the  Lombard  princes,  and 
their  obstinate  attachment  to  arianism.  Indeed  the 
shining  example  of  Gregory  himself  must  have  made 
a  very  powerful  impression  on  the  minds  of  all  who 
had  opportunity  of  knowing  him.  He  was  careful  to 
preserve  the  great  revenues  of  the  church,  but  no 
man  was  ever  more  conscientious  to  employ  them  to 
good  purposes.  As  he  loved  to  imitate  his  predeces- 
sor Gelasius,t  he  followed  the  statement  of  the  reve- 
nues which  he  had  drawn  up,  and  formed  an  estimate 
of  them  in  money;  distributions  of  which  he  made  to 
the  clergy,  monasteries,  churches,  the  officers  of  his 
house,  deaconries,  and  hospitals.  He  regulated  the 
sums  to  be  allotted  to  each  at  four  times  of  the  year, 
an  order  which  was  observed  three  hundred  years 
after.  A  great  volume  was  kept  in  the  palace  of  the 
Lateran,  containing  the  names  of  the  poor,  who  were 
the  objects  of  his  liberality,  their  age  and  circum- 
stances, at  Rome,  in  Italy,  and  even  in  distant  pro- 
vinces. On  every  first  day  of  the  month,  he  distri- 
buted to  the  poor's  necessities,  according  to  the 
season,  various  articles  of  provision.  Every  day  he 
distributed  alms  to  the  sick  and  infirm;  and  before 
he  sat  down  to  eat,  he  sent  portions  from  his  table  to 
some  indigent  people,  who  were  ashamed  to  appear. 
It  would  be  tedious  to  recount  from  his  letters!  ^^"^^ 
instances  of  his  liberality.  He  pressed  his  agents  to 
inform  him  of  objects,  and  loved  to  exceed  the  ex- 
pectations of  his  petitioners.  But  while  he  abounded 
in  benefactions,  he  would  receive  none  himself.  "We 


*  Ep.  17.  f  Fleury,  b.  xxxv.  c.  xvi.  vol.  iv. 

■"  Ep.  X8,  44,  23,  57,  65,  54,  30. 


52 

ought  to  refuse"  said  he,  writing  to  Felix  bishop  of 
Messina,  "  presents,  which  are  expensive  to  the 
churches.  Send  to  the  other  clergymen  every  year 
what  is  established  by  usage.  But  as  I  love  not  pre- 
sents, I  forbid  you  to  send  me  any  for  the  future.  I 
thank  you  for  the  palmtrees  which  you  sent  me,  but 
I  have  caused  them  to  be  sold,  and  have  sent  you  the 
price  of  them."  The  unhappy  wars  of  Italy  having 
caused  great  desolations  of  the  churches,  that  the  re- 
maining inhabitants  might  not  be  forsaken,  he  gave 
those  churches  in  charge  to  the  neighbouring  bishops. 
If  two  of  them  did  not  contain,  singly,  a  sufficient 
number  of  persons  to  constitute  a  diocese,  he  joined 
them  together  under  one  bishop,  insisting  on  equal 
care  being  taken  of  that  in  which  he  did  not  reside, 
as  of  that  in  which  he  did.  He  made  no  difficulty  of 
obliging  a  bishop  to  leave  a  small  church,  where  he 
was  little  more  than  titular  pastor,  to  govern  a  more 
important  one.*  Having  discovered  several  abuses 
committed  in  the  management  of  the  revenues  in 
Sicily,  he  took  care  to  reform  them.  "We  are  in- 
formed," says  he,t  "  that  corn  is  bought  of  the  pea- 
sants, under  the  market  price;  I  direct  that  they  be 
paid  always  according  to  the  current  price,  without 
deducting  the  corn  lost  by  shipwreck,  provided  that 
you  take  care  that  they  do  not  transport  it  out  of  sea- 
son. We  forbid  all  base  exactions;  and,  that  after  my 
death  the  farmers  may  not  be  charged  anew,  let  a  cer- 
tificate be  delivered  to  them  in  writing,  containing  the 
sum  which  each  is  obliged  to  pay.  Take  particular 
care,  that  false  weights  be  not  made  use  of  in  receiv- 
ing the  payments,  as  the  deacon  Servus  Dei  discovered, 
but  break  them  in  pieces,  and  cause  new  ones  to  be 
made.  I  have  been  informed,  that  farmers  are  distres- 
sed at  the  first  time  of  the  payment  of  their  rents;  for, 
having  not  yet  sold  their  fruits,  they  are  obliged  to 
borrow  at  heavy  interest.  Supply  them  therefore  out 

*  B.  i.  ep.  42. — He  wi-ites  thus  to  Peter  his  ag'ent  in  Sicily 
f  Ep.  64,  Sec.  b.  ii.  ep.  50. 


of  the  stock  of  the  church  with  what  they  may  have 
borrowed,  and  receive  their  payments  by  degices, 
lest  you  oblige  them  to  sell  their  commodities  at  an 
under  price,  to  make  good  their  rents.  In  general,  I 

WILL  NOT  SUFFER  THE  CHURCH  TO  BE  DEFILED  BY 
BASE  GAINS." 

This  is  a  specimen  of  the  uprightness  and  atten- 
tion of  Gregory  to  those  secular  concerns,  under 
which  his  sp  rit  so  much  groaned.  A  pharisee  would 
have  found  a  mental  feast  in  so  much  beneficence. 
Bm  Gregory  was  humble;  he  could  not  fint  rest  to 
his  soul  in  such  exercises,  however  laudable;  and 
though  his  heart  and  head  seemed  as  well  fitted  as 
any  man's  in  any  age  for  such  work,  and  though  he 
went  through  it  with  much  ability  and  success,  yet  it 
were  to  be  wished,  that  he  had  been  allowed  more 
time  to  pay  attention  to  the  more  spiritual  duties  of 
his  state.  The  short  extract  however  (for  the  account 
might  have  been  swelled  to  a  large  size)  may  deserve 
some  attention  from  persons,  whether  ecclesiastical  or 
secular,  whose  employments  are  of  a  similar  nature. 
Let  them  ask  themselves,  whether  with  Gregory's 
care  for  the  preservation  of  their  rights,  (and  in  that 
he  was  as  firm  and  strenuous  as  christian  charity  al- 
lows) they  are  also  like  him  upright,  disinterested, 
and  merciful.  And  as  human  malignity  has  been  abun- 
dantly gratified  in  large  details  of  the  encroachments 
and  oppressions  of  churchmen,  it  falls  within  the  plan 
of  these  memoirs,  to  show  that  all  churchmen  have 
not  been  thus  iniquitous;  that  those  who  are  humble 
and  evangelically  pious,  are  also,  above  all  men,  up- 
right, munificent,  and  liberal. 

Peter,  bishop  of  Terraco  in  Spain,  had  consented 
to  a  species  of  persecution  of  the  Jews  in  his  diocese, 
by  permitting  them  to  be  molested  in  their  festivities, 
and  to  be  more  than  once  driven  from  the  place  in 
which  they  celebrated  them.  Let  those,  who  have 
been  led  by  fashionable  historians  to  annex  the  idea 
of  persecution  to  that  of  the  priesthood,  take  notice, 
that  Gregory  bishop  of  Rome  wrote  to  Peter,  to  con- 

VoL.  in.  8 


# 


54 

dentin  the  practice,  and  to  give  his  decisive  opinion, 
that  the  Jews  should  not  be  in  the  least  molested, 
that  they  ought  to  be  won  over  to  the  faith  by  the 
SWEETNESS  of  gospcl  preaching,  and  by  the  denun- 
ciation of  divine  judgments  against  infidelity,  and  that 
these  were  christian  arts  and  methods,  while  those  of 
a  different  nature  tended  only  to  harden  and  disgust 
the  human  mind.* 

To  Leander  of  Sevillef  he  expresses  with  tears  the 
pressures  of  his  mnid  under  loads  of  solicitude,  and 
earnestly  entreats  his  prayers.  He  congratulates  him 
also  on  the  conversion  of  king  Recaredus  of  Spain, 
and  while  he  rejoices  at  the  news  of  that  prince's 
piety  and  virtues,  he  admonishes  the  bishop  to  watch 
over  the  royal  convert,  that  his  life  may  correspond 
to  so  hopeful  a  beginning.  He  wrote  some  time  after 
to  the  same  prince,  to  recommend  to  him  a  strong 
guard  over  anger,  pride,  and  lust,  vices  more  pecu- 
liarly apt  to  infest  princes.  Of  all  the  princes  of  this 
time  he  seems  most  to  have  adorned  the  gospel.  He 
was  just,  mimificent,  and  liberal.  And  before  he  left 
the  world  he  publicly  confessed  his  sins,  and  appeared 
to  have  been  possessed  of  true  piety,  so  far  as  we  can 
judge.  He  died  about  the  close  of  this  century. 

To  Virgilius  and  Theodorus,  bishops  of  Mar- 
seilles, he  writes  on  occasion  of  the  persecuting  me- 
thods made  use  of  against  the  Jews.  He  again  bears 
testimony  against  the  compulsory  practices.  He  de- 
clares how  sorry  he  is  to  find,  that  many  of  that  peo- 
ple had  been  brought  to  the  baptismal  font  by  vio- 
lence rather  than  by  preaching.  "  If  a  Jew  is  brought 
thither  by  necessity,  not  by  the  sweetness  of  the  word, 
returning  to  his  former  superstition,  he  dies  in  a  worse 
state  than  that  from  which  he  seemed  to  be  regenerated. 
Preach  frequently  to  them  that  they  may  desire  to  be 
changed,  through  the  love  of  what  they  hear.  Thus 
your  desire  of  saving  souls  will  be  accomplished,  and 
the  convert  will  not  return  like  the  dog  to  his  vomit. 

*  B.  i.  ep.  34.  t  Ep.  41. 


55 

% 
Preach,  that  their  dark  minds  may  be  illuminated,  and 

that  under  God  they  may  be  brought  to  real  regene- 
ration."* 

He  wrote  also  to  Pascasius,  bishop  of  Naples,  com- 
plaining of  the  violence  used  to  the  Jews  in  driving 
them  from  their  solemnities.  He  blames  this  method, 
and  exhorts  to  the  same  purpose  as  before. f  It  is  well 
known  what  different  methods  have  been,  since  Gre- 
gory's time,  supported  by  the  Roman  popes.  I  appro- 
priate the  term  pope  to  antichrist,  who  did  not,  accu- 
rately speaking,  exist  as  yet  in  the  western  church. 
On  the  other  side  he  was  zealous  to  suppress  the 
attempts  of  Jews  to  seduce  christians,  and  prohibited 
their  purchasing  of  christians  for  slavesj. 

The  Lombards  were  a  constant  scourge  to  Italy  in 
the  time  of  Gregory;  and  he  was  aware  of  their  inten- 
tions to  invade  Sicily.  Hence  he  wrote  to  all  the 
bishops  of  the  island  to  supplicate  the  Lord  in  litanies 
every  fourth  and  sixth  day  of  the  week,  and  exhorted 
them  not  only  to  draw  their  flocks  to  this  association 
of  prayer,  but  also  to  preach  to  them  the  doctrine  of 
repentance.  "  For  if  the  gracious  Lord  behold  us 
loving  his  commands,  he  is  able  to  defend  us  from 
the  enemy,  and  to  prepare  eternal  joys  for  us."<§ 

Natalis,  bishop  of  Salonse,  had  written  to  Gregory 
in  defence  of  the  entertainments  given  by  the  clergy. 
The  bishop  of  Rome  allows  his  assertions,  but  under 
these  important  restrictions,  "  that  no  absent  persons 
be  slandered  at  these  meetings,  that  none  be  made  an 
object  of  ridicule,  that  the  empty  discourse  of  secular 
business  be  avoided,  that  the  word  of  God  he  read  in 
them,  that  no  more  meat  and  drink  be  used  than  is 
needful  lor  the  refreshment  of  the  body,  and  to  fit  it 
for  the  discharge  of  duty.  If  this  be  your  practice,  I 
confess  you  to  be  masters  of  temper ance||."  But  it 
seems  Gregory's  animadversions  on  the  feasting  of 

*  B.  i.  ep.  45.  f  B.  ii.  ep.  15.  i  B.  li.  ep.  76. 

§  E.  ix.  45.  Hence  I  appreheriil  the  oi'i^ln  of  the  use  of  the  litapy  on 
V»'cdnesda.vs  and  Fridays  in  nublic  worship. 

i|B.  ii.sr. 


56 

4  ,      

the  Salonian  clergy  had  given  offence,  by  that  which 

he  adds.  "  You  take  it  ill  to  be  leprehended  by  me, 
who,  though  I  am  your  superior  in  church  dignity,  (I 
do  not  mean  as  a  man),  am  willing  to  be  corrected 
and  reproved  by  all.  I  thank,  indeed,  that  man  as  my 
friend,  through  whose  advice  I  am  enabled  to  wipe  off 
the  blemishes  of  my  soul  before  the  appearance  of  the 
awful  Judge."  One  cannot  form  any  great  idea  of  the 
piety  of  this  Natalis,  who  had  excused  himself  from 
assiduous  reading  the  scriptures  partly  on  account  of 
the  pressure  of  tribulations,  partly  by  a  m^ere  cavil, 
because  our  Lord  had  told  his  disciples,  that  it  should 
be  given  them  in  the  same  hour  what  they  should  say. 
Gregory  informs  him,  that  the  scriptures  were  given 
us,  that  we,  through  patience  and  comfort  of  them, 
might  have  hope.  How  he  answers  the  cavil,  it  is  not 
necessary  to  say.  "  But  we  cannot  be  like  you,"  ISa- 
talis  had  said.  The  bishop  of  Rome  was  not  to  be 
seduced  by  such  evasive  flattery.  "  The  encomiums 
you  bestow  on  me,"  said  he,  "  seem  to  be  spoken  in 
derision,  because  I  cannot  in  truth  find  them  realized 
in  my  experience."  We  see  in  all  this,  on  one  side,  a 
zealous  pastor  labouring  to  revive  a  sense  and  spirit  of 
godliness  in  his  brethren;  on  the  other,  a  slothful  and 
falsehearted  ministry,  poorly  excusing  itself  by  feign- 
ed apologies,  from  doing  the  Lord's  work,  ^vith  vigor 
and  sincerity. 

After  having  given  a  beautiful  description  of  charity 
in  writing  to  Dominicus  bishop  of  Carthage,'*  he  shows 
how  deeply  his  soul  was  penetrated  \i  ith  the  importance 
of  the  pastoral  ofiice.  In  their  views  of  this,  many  of 
the  ancient  fathers,  whom  we  deride  for  their  supersti- 
tions, do  far  excel  the  generality  of  pastors  in  our 
times.  Let  him  who  has  entered  on  this  office  with 
merely  secular  views  read,  and,  if  he  can,  blush  and 
weep,  after  he  has  considered,  that  no  age  since  the 
apostles'  days  has  ever  seen  one  more  intentl}-  and 
sincerely  laborious  than  Gregory.  "  Weighty  indeed 

-  B.  ii.  39. 


is  the  office  of  a  pastor.  He  must  be  an  example  tt) 
the  flock,  and  after  this  he  must  learn  to  keep  himself 
humble.  He  must  ever  be  intent  on  the  ministry  of 
the  word,  remembering  who  hath  said,  occupy  till 
I  COME.  This  we  then  truly  execute,  when  by  life 
and  doctrine  we  gain  the  souls  of  our  neighbours, 
strengthen  the  weak  by  setting  before  them  the  joys 
of  the  heavenly  kingdom,  and  bend  the  proud  by 
sounding  aloud  the  punishments  of  hell,  when  we 
spare  none  against  truth,  and  when  given  up  to 
heavenly  friendships,  Vve  fear  not  human  enmity.  I 
tremble  at  my  own  infirmity.  Hov»?  can  I  sustain  the 
last  judginent,  seeing  so  very  little  fruit  of  my  la- 
boars?  Dearest  brother,  I  implore  your  prayers  for 
me.  Bv  the  union  of  charity,  we  have  a  common 
interest." 

1  o  Boniface,  bishop  of  Rhegium,  he  gives  an  hand- 
some reproof  for  boasting  of  the  good  deeds  he  had 
done.  He  owned  that  he  rejoiced  to  hear  of  his  works 
of  mercy.  But  he  was  sorry  to  find,  that  he  himself 
had  spoken  of  them  to  many  persons.  He  warns  him 
to  take  care  that  he  did  not  mar  the  whole  by  ostenta- 
tion. "  What  are  we,  dust  and  ashes,  that  we  should 
covet  the  praise  of  men.  Him  you  should  seek  to 
please,  whose  coming  we  expect,  and  whose  retribu- 
tions will  know  no  end."* 

Evangelus,  a  deacon  of  the  church  of  Sypontum, 
had  complained  to  Gregory,  that  his  daughter  had  been 
deflowered  by  Felix,  the  grandson  of  the  bishop  of  the 
same  name.  The  bishop  of  Rome,  not  without  some 
animadversion  on  the  bishop's  careless  education  of 
his  grandson,  ordered,  on  supposition  of  the  truth  of 
the  fact,  that  Felix  should  be  obliged  to  marry  the 
young  woman,  or,  in  case  of  refusal,  be  scourged  and 
confined  in  a  monastery,  excommunicated,  and  remain 
in  a  state  of  penance,  and  not  be  suffered  to  go  abroad 
till  farther  orders  were  received  from  Gregory. f  It 
seemed  proper  to  mention  this  ancient  precedent  of 

*  B.  ii,  4.3  t  B.  ii.  79,  81. 


58 

the  practice  of  spiritual  courts.  Doubtless,  they  were, 
in  their  origin,  courts  of  censure  on  immoralities  not 
so  easily  cognisable  in  courts  of  common  law.  The 
necessities  of  society,  and  the  depravity  of  human  na- 
ture, seem  to  require  the  existence  of  such  tribunals. 
The  Roman  office  of  censor  was  of  the  same  kind. 
Nor  would  mankind  be  disposed  to  depreciate  them, 
w^ere  they  naturally  as  sincere  in  their  regard  for  the 
honour  of  God  and  for  moral  decorum,  as  they  are  for 
the  preservation  of  propert}^  The  abuses  of  these 
courts  among  ourselves  are  well  known.  But  why  per- 
sons of  rank  and  property  in  our  country  do  not  labour 
to  regulate  them,  or  rather,  do  not  endeavour  to  insti- 
tute a  censorship  of  morals  that  shall  be  practicable 
and  effectual, — why  they  indiscriminately  condemn  the 
whole  principle,  while  they  permit  lewdness  to  be 
practised  without  any  restraint, — are  questions  not 
hard  to  be  determined.  In  the  mean  time,  every  lover 
of  equity  and  decency  should  prefer  a  spiritual  court, 
armed  with  some  power  for  the  suppression  of  vice, 
before  the  licentiousness,  which,  under  the  name  of 
liberty,  threatens  among  ourselves  to  destroy  all  the 
barriers  which  our  ancestors  erected  against  vice  and 
immorality.  Severe  as  Gregory's  conduct  may  now 
seem,  it  was  wholesome  no  doubt,  and  society  felt  the 
good  consequences. 

In  writing  to  Priscus,  a  patrician  of  the  east,  he 
justly  describes  the  mixed  state  of  human  affairs,  and 
the  duties  of  christian  faith  and  humility.  The  thought 
is  common  to  moralists  in  all  ages;  but  Gregory  en- 
nobled it  with  some  real  principles  of  Christianity. 

Gregory  corresponded  also  with  Theodolinda,  the 
queen  of  the  Lombards:  she  was  the  widow  of  their 
king  Autharit,  a  zealous  arian.  After  his  death,  she 
married  Agihilfus,  a  Lombard,  whom  the  nation  re- 
ceived as  king.  Being  orthodox  herself,  she  brought 
over  her  husband,  and  the  whole  nation,  at  length,  to 
the  same  persuasion.  Gregory  congratulated  her  on 
the  happy  prospect  of  the  progress  of  Christianity 
among  the  Lombards.  What  degree  of  real  piety  was 


59 

ill  all  this,  does  not  appear:  the  temporal  benefit  of 
Gregory's  hiboiirs  was,  however,  evident  in  the  esta- 
blishment of  peaee  for  some  time  between  the  Lom- 
bards and  the  Roman  empire,^ 

Anastasius,  bishop  of  Antioch,  seems  ever  to  have 
been  a  special  favourite  of  Gregory.  He  had  been 
ejected  from  his  see  by  the  injustice  of  Justin,  the 
successor  of  Justinian,  and  had  lived  in  exile  a  num- 
ber of  years.  He  was  at  length,  however,  restored  to 
his  see,t  and  Gregory  wrote  a  letter  to  him  on  the 
occasion,  full  of  pious  and  tender  sentiments.  In  this 
letter,  he  endeavours  to  solace  the  mind  of  the  prelate 
with  the  same  scriptural  views  and  promises,  with 
which  his  own  had  been  refreshed  under  a  variet}-  of 
afflictions.  The  hope  of  glory  hereafter  to  be  revealed, 
it  is  evident,  was  the  spring  of  joy  to  his  own  soul, 
and  enabled  him  to  bear  calamities  with  patience  J.  In 
another  letter  to  him  he  writes,  "  you  ought  to  keep 
in  mind,  as  you  do,  what  is  written:  '  In  the  last  days 
perilous  times  shall  come.' — And  though  m  old  age 
you  suffer  much,  remember  him,  who  told  St.  Peter, 
that  when  he  was  old,  another  should  gird  him.  Yet, 
in  saying  this,  I  recollect,  that  from  youth  you  have 
laboured  in  many  adversities.  Numbers  rejoice  at  our 
sorrows,  as  you  write;  but  we  know  who  hath  said, 
*  ye  shall  weep  and  lament,  but  the  world  shall  re- 
joice; and  ye  shall  be  sorrowful,  but  your  sorrow  shall 
be  turned  into  joy.'  We  feel  the  performance  of  the 
former  part;  let  us  expect  the  latter  part  also.  You 
say,  that  some  who  ought  to  relieve,  add  burdens  to 
you;  I  know  they  are  those  who  come  in  sheep's  clo- 
thing, but  who  inwardly  are  ravening  wolves.  We  are 
not  disturbed  on  account  of  their  ambition  in  arrosra- 
tmg  all  honour  to  themselves,  because  we  trust  in  the 
Almighty,  whose  law  and  rule  is,  that  those  who  covet 
what  belongs  to  others,  are  sooner  on  that  account 
deprived  of  their  own.  For  we  know  who  hath  said, 
'  he  that  exalteth  himself,  shall  be  abased,'  and,  * 

*  B.  xii,  ep.  7.  f  B.  iv.  81.  +  Evagi'ius,  b.  vi.  toward  the  end 


GO 

haughty  spirit  before  a  fall.'  In  these  days,  as  I  find, 
new  heretical  wars  arise,  which  would  reduce  to  no- 
thing the  prophets,  the  gospels,  and  all  the  fathers 
together.  But  while  Anastasius  lives,  we  trust  in  the 
srrace  of  our  Protector;  their  swords  will  break  in 
pieces,  striking  against  a  rock.  The  church,  in  the 
mean  time,  by  the  subtilty  of  heretics,  is  sharpened  in 
her  doctrine,  and  learns  the  truth  more  accurat(-ly= 
The  heart  of  God  approaches  to  us,  and,  by  tempta- 
tions we  are  brought  to  feel  him  more  sensibly.  What 
I  suffer  from  the  swords  of  barbarians  and  from  the 
perverseness  of  judges,  I  spare  to  relate,  that  1  may 
not  increase  the  sorrow  of  him  whom  I  wish  to  con- 
sole. But  I  weigh  those  words,  '  this  is  your  hour, 
and  the  power  of  darkness.'  The  power  of  light  then 
shall  have  its  day  afterwards;  because  the  elect  are 
the  light  of  the  world,  and  it  is  written,  '  the  upright 
shall  have  dominion  over  them  in  the  morning:'  hence, 
all  we  suffer  in  the  hour  and  power  of  darkness  is  not 
to  be  regretted.  You  wish,  if  it  were  possible,  that  we 
might  converse  without  pen  and  ink;  and  it  is  a  pain- 
ful circumstance  that  we  are  almost  as  distant  from  one 
another  as  east  and  west.  But  truly  we,  whom  grace 
hath  not  separated,  are  made  one.  Why  wish  you  for 
the  wings  of  a  dove,  which  you  have  already?  The 
wings  are  the  love  of  God  and  our  neighbour.  By 
them  the  church  flies  through  the  earth:  if  you  had 
not  these  wings  you  would  not  have  come  to  me  with 
so  much  love  by*  your  epistles. — As  your  life  is  ne- 
cessary to  all  good  men,  may  you  after  a  long  time 
arrive  at  the  joys  of  the  heavenly  country." 

I  have  only  to  add  concerning  Anastasius,  that  he 
lived  five  years  after  his  restoration,  and  died  about 
the  end  of  the  century.  We  are  much  in  the  dark  con- 
cerning the  trials  of  this  great  and  good  man.  Grego- 
ry's words  however  v/ill  stand  as  proper  to  be  addres- 
sed to  the  suffering  children  of  God  in  all  ages.  I 
conceive  the  bishop  of  Antioch  to  have  been  a  lumi- 

*  B.  vii.  cp.  3 


61 

nary  in  the  east,  envied  and  persecuted  extremely, 
bearing  testimony  to  the  faith  of  Christ  in  the  decline 
of  the  eastern  church;  whose  life  and  transactions  would 
be  very  instructive,  if  they  had  been  transmitted  to 
posterity. 

John,  bishop  of  Constantinople,  disturbed  in  Gre- 
gory's  time  the  peace  of  the  church  by  assuming  to 
himself  the  title  of  universal  bishop.  The  pride  and 
arrogance,  with  which  he  assumed  it,  was  only  equal- 
led by  the  obstinacy,  with  which  he  persevered.  Gre- 
gory wrote  with  much  vehemence*  against  his  haugh- 
tiness, and,  on  this  occasion,  laid  down  some  memo- 
rable rules  of  humility,  which  severely  condemned, 
not  himself,  but  his  successors  in  the  Romish  see.  In 
what  a  state  must  the  east  have  been  to  revere  as  a 
great  saint  both  living  and  dying  so  proud  a  man  as 
John  of  Constantinople!  But  there  godliness  was  nearly 
expiring,  and  the  mahometan  scourge  was  at  hand. 

Gregory  wrote  to  Dominicus  an  African  bishop, 
entreating  his  prayers,  and  thanking  him  for  his  pre- 
sents. By  this  letter  it  appears  that  the  spirit  of  true 
godliness  was  not  yet  extinct  in  Africa. f  There  is 
another  letter  to  the  same  person,  who,  it  seems,  was 
bishop  of  Carthage,  full  of  the  spirit  of  charity  and 
devotion,  though  there  is  nothing  in  it  that  calls  for 
any  very  particular  attentionf . 

Cyriacus  succeeded  John  of  Constantinople,  whose 
pride  has  been  mentioned  already.  At  his  solemn  or- 
dination the  people  shouted,  "  this  is  the  day  which 
the  Lord  hath  made;  Ave  will  rejoice  and  be  glad  in 
it."  Superstition  naturally  paved  the  way  for  the  do- 
minion of  the  clergy;  and  the  bishops  of  the  great  sees 
were  gradually  increasing  in  secular  grandeur.  The 
congratulation  just  mentioned  was  calculated  to  en- 
courage Cyriacus  to  emulate  the  ambition  of  his  pre- 
decessor. Gregory  (I  justly  finds  fault  with  it,  in  a 
letter  to  the  great  men  of  Constantinople,  shows  that 
the  acclamation  properly  belonged  to  the  Stone  which 

*  B.  iv.  82.  f  B.  V.  119.  i  B.  v.  162'  !j  B.  vi.  in. 

Vol.  III.  9 


62 

ihe  Lord  had  laid  for  a  foundation  in  his  church*,  and 
observes  that  it  was  impious  to  ascribe  those  praises 
to  the  creature,  which  belonged  to  the  Creator.  Yet 
he  is  willing  to  excuse  the  mistake  as  proceeding  from 
a  charitable  intention.  Gregory,  no  doubt,  had  him- 
self too  high  views  of  the  dignity  of  his  own  see;  and 
its  supposed  relation  to  saint  Peter  blinded  his  judg- 
ment. The  exaltation  of  Constantinople,  through  the 
domineering  pretensions  of  the  late  bishop  excited  his 
jealousy,  and  so  subtil  and  intricate  are  the  motions 
of  the  heart,  that  he  himself  might  not  at  all  be  aware 
of  the  selfishness,  which  probably  influenced  his  con- 
duct. I  doubt  not,  however,  from  the  unaffected  hu- 
mility of  his  whole  life,  that  his  heart  detested  sacer- 
dotal ambition.  The  excessive  dignity  of  the  prelatical 
character  would  have  done  little  harm  to  Christen- 
dom, had  all  prelates  been  like  Gregory.  But,  as  this 
was  not  to  be  expected,  the  state  ought  to  have  set 
bounds  to  ecclesiastical  encroachments  before  this 
period. 

Gregoria,  a  lady  of  the  bedchamber  to  Augusta  the 
empress,  in  her  anxiety  for  her  soul,  and  in  the  height 
of  her  admiration  of  Gregory,  by  letter  requested  him 
to  inform  her,  if  he  could  by  revelation,  that  her  sins 
were  forgiven  her.f  Gregory  assured  her,  "  that  cer- 
tainty in  this  matter  was  not  attainable:  we  must  re- 
pent and  mourn  over  our  sins,  and  apply  for  pardon 
continually."  He  declares  himself  unworthy  of  hav- 
ing such  a  revelation  made  to  him,  and  gives  her 
useful  and  salutary  advices,  so  far  as  he  saw  into  the 
system  of  divine  truth.  In  regard  to  the  doctrine  of 
justification,  he  seems  to  have  had  the  same  confusion 
of  ideas,  and  the  same  sentiments  which  Augustine 
had.  HoAv  superstition,  servility,  and  darkness  pre- 
vailed in  the  church  at  this  time,  is  but  too  evident. 
Yet  Gregory  was  a  luminary  compared  with  most  of 
his  contemporaries. 

To   a   person   named   Andrew,   affecting    secular 

*  Psalm,  cxviii.  24.  f  B-  vi.  ep.  186. 


63 

greatness,  he  writes  with  much  pathos  on  the  vanit}- 
of  suhkinary  thmgs,  a  subject  which  he  touched  with 
more,  sensibility,  because  he  was  strongly  impressed 
with  the  idea  of  the  world  being  nearly  at  an  end.* 

Serenus,  bishop  of  Marseilles,  observing  some  of 
his  people  to  adore  the  images  which  had  been  placed 
in  churches,  brake  them  in  his  zeal,  and  gave  so  much 
disgust  by  this  conduct,  that  many  withdrew  from  his 
communion.  Gregcwy  rebukes  him  on  this  account, 
and  wishes  him  to  conciliate  the  affections  of  the  people, 
by  allowing  them  to  make  use  of  images  as  pieces  of 
history  to  instruct  their  minds  in  the  great  facts  of 
Christianity.  He  would  have  him  to  use  them  as 
books  for  the  illiterate  people,  and  at  the  same  time  to 
caution  them  seriously  against  paying  any  adoration 
to  them.—- 1  have  stated  the  substance  of  the  senti- 
ments of  both  these  bishops,  f  It  seems  not  probable, 
that  those,  who  deserted .  Serenus  on  this  account, 
had  much  Christianity  "to  lose.  Gregory  had  not  the 
opportunity  of  knowing  so  well  as  we  do  the  danger 
of  his  advice.  Thus  far  is  evident,  that  image  wor- 
ship had  not  generally  commenced  in  Gregory's  time, 
and  that  he  seriously  reprobated  the  practice.  The 
gradual  approximation,  however,  to  idolatry  may  be 
traced  from  these  facts;  and  the  danger  of  such  a 
mode  of  teaching,  as  that^v-hich  Gregory  recommeilds 
has  been  so  abimdantfy  pi^'oved  since  his  time,  that 
no  doubt  remains  but  in  this  instance,  the  bishop  of 
Marseilles  judged  better  than^'he. 

The  cori'espondence  between  Gregory  and  Brune- 
halt,  the  queen  of  Austrasia  or  Burgundy,  a  division 
of  the  French  monarchy,  which  took  place  amidst  the 
confusions  of  that  country,  after  the  death  of  Clovis, 
will  deserve  to  be  succinctly  stated. |  She  was  an 
ambitious,  dissolute  woman;  yet,  in  that  age  of  su- 
perstition, she  endeavoured  to  impose  both  on  herself 
and  on  the  world  by  an  appearance  of  piety.  She  at- 
tempted to  Extend  her  power  while  her  young  male 

•  B.  vi.  ep.  190.         t  B.  vii.  190.  b.  ix.  9.         t  B.  vii.  113.  b.  ix.  57.  61. 


64 

descendents  were  on  the  throne;  and  permitted,  or 
rather  encouraged  their  vicious  conduct,  that  she 
might  herself  keep  the  reins  of  government.  Gregory, 
while  he  commends  her  respectful  attention  to  the 
forms  of  religion,  blames  her  ecclesiastical  proceedings 
in  some  matters  of  great  moment.  He  represents,  with 
much  earnestness,  the  irregular,  and  even  simoniacal 
ordinations  of  pastors  in  France,  and  observesj  with 
great  energy,  the  deplorable  state  of  the  flocks,  and 
the  scandal  of  all  godliness,  which  must  ensue  from 
such  conduct.  Finding  that  his  remonstrances  had 
little  effect,  he  urges  her  still  more  strongly  on  the 
same  subject,  and  observes  the  probability  of  divine 
vengeance  overtaking  her  family,  if  she  corrected  not 
these  enormities.  It  is  remarkable,  that  this  wicked 
woman  was  afterwards  put  to  a  cruel  death,  and  that 
her  descendents  were  slain  or  expelled.  From  some 
parts  of  the  more  early  correspondence  between  them, 
one  would  think  that  Gregory  thought  highly  of  her 
virtues.  Time,  however,  undeceived  him,  and  it  must 
be  confessed,  that  he  treated  her  with  the  undissem- 
bled  plainness,  which  becomes  a  christian  pastor. 

The  bodily  afflictions  of  Gregory,  in  connexion 
with  the  miseries  of  the  times,  are  forcibly  described 
in  a  letter  to  Italica,  a  patrician  lady.* 

"  I  can  find  nothing  else  to  say  of  myself,  than  that 
as  a  just  punishment  of  my  sins,  I  have  been  almost 
eleven  months  confined  to  my  bed.  I  am  so  oppressed 
with  the  gout,  that  life  is  an  heavy  punishment.  I 
faint  daily  through  pain,  and  breathe  after  death  as  my 
remedy.!  Among  the  clergy  and  people  of  the  city, 
scarce  a  freeman  or  a  slave  is  exempt  from  fevers. 
Africa  and  the  east  are  also  full  of  misery  and  deso- 
lation.   I  see  the  end  of  all  things  approaching;  be 

*  B.  vii.  127. 

f  In  another  letter  he  speaks  of  a  disorder  different  from  the  gout, 
hamel)^,  a  grievous  burning  heat,  that  spread  over  all  his  body,  and  took 
a.way  liis  spirits.  By  such  severe  exercises  was  this  good  man  trained  for 
the  kingdom  of  heaven;  and  he  evidently  grew  in  humilit}',  tender  sym- 
pathy with  others  in  distress,  and  ardent  breathings  for  the  heavenly 
countrj'. 


65 

therefore  less  solicitous  on  account  of  your  own  cala- 
mities. Study  with  alacrity  that  godliness,  which  has 
the  promise  of  the  life  that  now  is,  as  well  as  of  that 
which  is  to  come." 

In  a  letter  to  Eulogius,*  bishop  of  Alexandria, 
written  the  year  after,  he  says,  "  I  have  been  near  two 
years  confined  to  my  bed,  in  constant  pain. — Often 
have  I  been  forced  to  return  to  my  bed,  when  I  scarce 
had  left  it,  by  the  violence  of  pain. — Thus  I  die  daily, 
and  yet  live.  But  I  am  a  grievous  criminal,  and,  as 
such,  deservedly  shut  up  in  so  painful  a  prison,  I  daily 
cry  with  the  psalmist,  "  bring  my  soul  out  of  prison, 
that  I  may  give  thanks  to  thy  name."  While  he  lived, 
he  was  frequently  thus  afflicted;  but  the  vigor  of  his 
mind  was  unabated,  and  his  faculties  were  unclouded. 

Another  instance  of  his  bodily  sufferings  shall  close 
this  branch  of  his  story.  Writing  to  his  friend  Venan- 
tius,  who  was  likewise  afflicted  with  the  gout,  he  says, 
"  what  ought  we  to  do,  but  to  call  our  sins  to  remem- 
brance, and  to  thank  God,  that  he  purifies  us  by  afflic- 
ting our  flesh.  Let  us  take  care,  that  we  pass  not 
from  one  degree  of  torment  to  another,  and  let  us 
consider  the  goodness  of  God,  who  threatens  us  with 
death,  that  he  may  imprint  in  us  an  edifying  fear  of 
his  judgments.  How  many  sinners  have  continued 
immersed  in  sin  through  life  without  a  headach,  and 
have  suddenly  been  cast  into  hell?" — I  rejoice  to  find 
in  this  great  man  the  marks  of  that  deep  humility, 
which  is  known  only  to  true  converts,  and  of  that  wise 
improvement  of  affliction,  of  which  theorists  may  rea- 
son, but  which  saints  only  feel.  He  concludes  thus 
benevolently  and  piously  to  his  friend.  "  May  the 
Lord  infuse  into  your  soul  these  words  by  the  inspira- 
tion of  his  Spirit,  cleanse  you  from  your  iniquities, 
give  you  here  the  joy  of  his  consolation,  and  eternal 
reward  hereafter,  "f 

*  This  Euloglus,  by  preaching  and  writing,  strengthened  the  hands  of 
the  godly  in  the  east,  and  lessened  the  influence  of  heretics.  He  seems, 
by  Gregory's  correspondence  with  him,  to  have  been  a  wise  and  pious 
pastor,  such  as  in  Alexandria  £«i,d  the  east  were  rarely  to  be  found- 

t  B.  is.  25. 


66 

Gregory,  having  been  informed,  that  Clementina, 
a  woman  of  quality,  had  harboured  some  suspicions 
against  him,  wrote  to  her  in  a  charitable  spirit  and 
with  the  intention  of  effacing  the  disagreeable  impres- 
sions. He  at  the  same  time  mildly  reproved  her  for 
the  want  of  a  placable  and  forgiving  temper.  He  re- 
minds her  of  the  well  known  petition  in  the  Lord's 
prayer,  and  delivers  several  trite,  but  weighty  senti- 
ments adapted  to  the  subject.* 

On  no  occasion  was  Gregory  wanting  to  impress 
on  men's  minds  the  care  of  the  soul.  Two  persons 
having  requested  his  ajssistance  in  their  temporal  dif- 
ficulties, after  having  said  what  the  case  required,  he 
exhorted  them  not  to  murmur  at  the  divine  dispensa- 
tions, nor  to  undertake  any  thing  unjust  under  the 
pretence  of  necessity;  but  to  fix  their  hope  on  the 
mercy  of  their  Kedeemer,  who  forsaketh  not  those  who 
trust  in  him,  to  occupy  their  minds  with  divine  things, 
and  to  repose  on  him  who  gives  what  we  have  not,  re- 
pairs what  we  have  lost,  and  preserves  what  he  has 
repaired,  t 

The  subdeacon  was  an  officer  of  the  church,  who 
superintended,  under  the  bishop  of  Rome,  the  distant 
bishoprics  and  parishes  which  belonged  to  his  jurisdic- 
tion.f  Gregory  wrote  to  Anthemius,  the  subdeacon 
of  Campania,  that  he  had  heard  of  Paschasius,  a  bishop, 
who  was  so  slothful,  that  he  neglected  every  pastoral 
duty,  admitted  of  no  advice,  and  gave  himself  up  to 
the  building  of  a  ship.  It  seems  he  used  to  go  down 
to  the  sea  on  this  verj^  unclerical  employment  with 
one  or  t\A:o  of  his  clergymen,  and  was  held  in  derision 
by  all  the  country.  Gregory  directs  his  subdeacon  to 
reprimand  him  in  the  presence  of  some  presbyters,  or 
gentlemen  of  the  neighbourhood,  and  try  by  that 
method  to  reform  him.  Should  that  prove  ineffectual, 
he  enjoins  him  to  send  Paschasius  to  Rome,  to  answer 
for  himself  before  Gregory. 

I  know  not  the  result;  but  it  seemed  worth  while  to 

'  B.  rin.  16.  f  B.  xi.  23.  i  B.  xi.  29. 


67 

mention  the  case,  as  it  illustrates  the  state  of  the 
church  discipline  of  that  day,  as  well  as  the  vigilant 
attention  of  Gregory.  That  so  many  should  nominallj 
sustain  the  pastoral  character,  whose  taste  and  genius, 
as  well  as  disposition  and  sentiments,  are  repugnant 
to  it,  and  who  seem  qualified  to  excel  in  any  thing 
rather  than  what  is  sacerdotal,  is  matter  for  lamenta- 
tion. The  profane  avarice  of  parents  educating  their 
children  for  the  ministry  at  all  events,  is  one  great 
cause  of  it. 


CHAP.  VI. 

Gregory'' s  Conduct  toward  the  Emperors  Mauritius  and 

Phocas. 

It  is  impossible  for  any  impartial  person,  who  has 
attended  to  the  spirit  and  conduct  of  Gregory  as  ex- 
hibited in  his  pastoral  memoirs,  not  to  feel  a  conviction 
of  the  eminent  piety,  integrity,  and  humility  of  this 
bishop.  Yet  it  has  been  the  fashion  to  arraign  his  cha- 
racter with  great  severity,  on  account  of  his  conduct 
in  the  latter  part  of  his  life.  He  has  been  accused  of 
great  ingratitude  towards  one  excellent  and  virtuous 
emperor,  and  of  egregious  flattery  towards  another 
who  was  profligate  and  tyrannical.  Tl\e  evidence  al- 
ready adduced  of  his  disposition  and  temper  should 
naturally  dispose  us  to  receive  with  much  caution 
such  grievous  accusations.  I  shall  throw  together  into 
this  chapter  the  facts  on  which  our  judgment  is  to  be 
founded.  * 

A  series  of  events  had  given  Gregory  a  strong  pre- 
judice against  the  government  of  Mauritius.  Their  op- 
position of  sentiment  had  remarkably  alienated  their 
spirits  from  one  another,  though  they  once  had  the 
most  sincere  esteem  for  each  other's  character.    Gre- 

*  See  Bower's  History  of  the  Popes,  vol.  ii.  Gregory. 


68 

gory  had  been  very  acceptable  to  Mauritius,  who  had 
strongly  favoured  his  promotion  to  the  bishopric.  Nor 
is  there  anj'  reason  to  doubt  of  the  sincerity  of  the 
bishop's  professions  of  a  very  high  regard  for  the  em- 
peror, when  he  made  them.  Changes  of  this  sort  are 
common  amongst  mankind,  nor  are  the  declarations, 
which  men  make  at  different  times  of  the  characters  of 
the  same  persons,  however  contradictory,  to  be  always 
charged  to  insincerity. 

Mauritius  made  a  law,  to  prohibit  men,  who  had 
held  civil  offices  under  the  government,  from  under- 
taking the  administration  of  the  church.  Of  this  Gre- 
gory approved;  but  a  clause  in  the  same  law,  which 
forbade  military  men  to  enter  into  monasteries  till  the 
time  of  their  service  was  expired,  or  till  they  were  dis- 
abled for  the  profession,  met  not  with  the  same  appro- 
bation. Gregory,  too  fond  of  monastic  institutions,  and 
conceiving  them  necessary  for  the  souls  of  some, 
though  not  of  all,  expostulated  with  the  emperor  on 
the  impiety  of  the  decree.  He  does  so,  however,  with 
all  possible  decency  and  respect,  and  lays  open  his  sen- 
timents with  a  frankness  and  modesty,  which  do  ho- 
nour to  his  character.  Doubtless  he  was  mistaken;  and 
the  mistake  was  common  to  him  with  the  most  pious 
of  those  times.  He  promulged,  however,  the  emperor's 
decree  through  Italy,  and  thus,  as  he  himself  says,  he 
was  faithful  to  God,  and  obeyed  his  prince  at  the  same 
time.* 

In  this  transaction,  in  which  it  does  not  appear  that 
he  succeeded  with  the  emperor,  the  zeal  of  Gregory 
was  quickened  by  the  strong  presentiments  of  the  near 
approach  of  the  day  of  judgment,  which  filled  his  mind. 
This  mistaken  notion  seems  to  have  dwelt  with  Gre- 
gory; nor  was  it  in  him  a  mere  speculation.  He  was 
practically  serious  in  the  expectation.  I  find  him  pres- 
sing it  in  another  letter  to  the  nobles  and  landholders 
of  the  island  of  Sardinia,  whom  he  reproved  for  suf- 
fering their^  labourers  to  remain  in  a  state  of  idolatry. 

'  B.  xii.  ep.  100. 


69 

He  justly  observes,  that  they  were  bound  in  conscience 
to  take  care  of  the  spiritual  instruction  of  those  who 
laboured  for  them  in  temporal  things,  and  he  earnest- 
ly exhorts  them  to  promote  the  charitable  work.*  The 
selfishness  and  insensibility,  with  which  so  many,  in 
modern  times,  can  reap  lucrative  advantages  from  the 
labours  of  mariners,  slaves,  and  apprentices,  with  no 
more  attention  to  their  best  interests,  than  if  they  were 
of  the  brute  creation,  here  naturally  forces  itself  on  our 
attention.  Other  letters,  of  the  same  kind,  demonstrate 
the  zeal  of  Gregory  for  the  propagation  of  Christianity 
among  idolaters  and  infidels. 

Italy  suffered  extremely  from  the  Lombards,  as  has 
been  observed;  nor  can  we  form  any  hopeful  idea  of 
the  real  conversion  of  Aigilulph,  the  husband  of  Theo- 
delinda,  since  he  still  ravaged  the  Roman  territories, 
and  filled  them  with  misery  and  desolation.  These 
evils  were  a  constant  source  of  affliction  to  the  tender 
spirit  of  Gregory,  yet  he  failed  not  to  improve  them 

IN    HIS     HOMILIES     TO     THE     INSTRUCTION    OF   HIS 

FLOCK.  Willing  to  put  a  stop  to  the  effusion  of  blood, 
and  averse  to  shedding  even  that  of  the  Lombards,  by 
nourishing  intestine  feuds  among  them,  as  he  might 
have  done,  he  strove  to  make  peace  with  Aigilulph, 
and  had  even  succeeded,  when  the  exarch  of  Ravenna, 
the  emperor's  governor  in  Italy,  perfidiously  brake  the 
peace,  and  provoked  the  Lombard  king  to  renew  his 
hostilities.  The  exarch  himself,  finding  his  own  profit 
in  the  continuance  of  the  war,  was  for  persevering  in 
it  at  all  events,  and  his  heart  was  hardened  against  the 
sufferings  of  the  people,  which  Gregory  deplored.  In- 
volved  as  we  find  this  holy  bishop  in  political  concerns 
far  more  than  it  were  to  be  wished,  it  is  yet  pleasing 
to  see  him  uniformly  supporting  the  christian  charac- 
ter. For  now  a  severe  trial  came  upon  him.  Mauritius, 
induced  by  representations  from  the  exarch,  reproach- 
ed him  severely  with  his  conduct,  and  in  effect  called 
him  a  foolish  person.  Gregory,  humble  as  he  was,  felt 

*  B.  iii.  23. 

Vol.  m.  10 


70 

the  indignity,  of  all  others  the  hardest  to  be  borne  by 
mtn  of  understanding.  Yet  he  checked  his  spirit,  and 
brake  not  the  just  bounds  prescribed  to  the  christian 
and  to  the  subject  of  an  emperor.  "  While  you  reprove 
me,"  says  he,  "  in  sparing  you  have  not  spared  me. 
While  you  politely  tax  me  with  simplicity,  you  doubt- 
less call  me  a  fool.  I  own  the  charge.  Had  I  not  been 
so  I  should  not  have  come  hither  to  this  episcopal  scene, 
to  endure  what  I  suffer  amidst  the  Lombard  wars.  In- 
deed if  I  saw  not  the  daily  increase  of  the  calamities 
of  the  Romans,  I  should  gladly  be  silent  with  respect  to 
personal  contempt.  But  this  is  my  affliction;  the  same 
cause  which  subjects  me  to  the  imputation  of  folly, 
brings  my  countr3^men  under  the  yoke  of  the  Lom- 
bards. And  while  I  am  not  believed,  the  strength  of 
the  enemy  increases  mightily.  This  I  suggest  to  my 
good  lord,  that  he  may  believe  of  me  what  evils  he 
pleases,  only  let  him  not  give  his  ears  to  any  sort  of 
persons  concerning  the  public  good,  but  regard  facts 
more  than  words.  I  know  I  am  a  sinner;  I  daily  offend, 
and  am  daily  chastised.  I  trust  the  chastisement  of 
your  displeasure  will  work  for  my  good,  among  the 
rest,  at  the  last  day.  But  let  me  recount  my  grievances. 
First,  the  peace  I  had  made  with  Aigilulph,  with  no 
loss  to  the  state,  js  broken.  In  the  next  place,  soldiers 
are  removed  from  Rome,  some  to  perish  by  the  ene- 
my, others  to  defend  Peru  slum,  while  Rome  is  ex- 
posed to  danger.  Further,  Aigilulph  appears  with  his 
forces;  with  these  eyes  I  have  seen  Romans,  like  dogs, 
tied  with  cords,  and  dragged  to  be  sold  as  slaves  among 
the  Franks.  As  to  myself,  in  the  integrity  of  my  con- 
science I  am  not  dejected  with  false  accusations:  I  ani 
prepared  to  endure  all,  provided  my  soul's  salvation 
be  not  endangCi  ed.  But  it  grieves  me  to  the  heart,  that 
Gregory  and  Castorius,  who  did  all  that  men  could 
do,  while  Rome  was  besieged,  have  fallen  under  your 
displeasure  on  my  account.  That  you  threaten  me 
with  an  awful  account  at  the  day  of  judgment,  will 
require  a  few  words  in  answer.  I  beseech  you  cease 
from  this  language.  '  Judge  nothing  before  the  time,' 


71 

says  that  excellent  preacher  Paul.  I  only  say  this  in 
brief,  that,  unworrhy  sinner  as  I  am,  I  rest  more  on 
the  mercy  of  Jesus,  than  on  your  justice.  JVIcn  are 
very  ignorant  of  the  measures  of  his  judgment;  per- 
haps what  you  commend,  he  will  blame;  and  what  you 
blame,  he  will  commend.  I  leave  uncertain  things;  I 
have  recourse  to  prayers  and  tears  alone,  begging  that 
the  Lord  would  rule  our  pious  emperor  with  his  hand, 
and  acquit  him  at  that  awful  judgment;  at  the  sarne 
time,  that  he  would  teach  me  so  to  please  men,  that  I 
lose  not  his  eternal  grace."* 

I  have  already  mentioned  the  jealous  uneasiness  of 
Gregory  at  the  pride  of  John,  bishop  of  Constantino- 
ple. The  title  of  universal  bishop,  had  upon  his  own 
application  been  conferred  upon  him  in  an  eastern 
council,  and  the  policy  of  some  former  emperors  had 
induced  them  to  compliment  the  prelates  of  Constan- 
tinople with  it;  because  the  honour  and  influence  of 
the  imperial  city  were  augmented  by  this  means.  Gre- 
gory was  the  more  vexed  at  this,  because  the  synod  of 
Chalcedonf  had  offered  the  same  title  to  the  Roman 
bishops,  and  they  had  not  accepted  it.  He  in  his  let- 
ters called  himself  the  servant  of  the  servants  of  God. 
Such  humility  might  have  been  thought  affected  in  a 
person  not  eminent  for  this  grace.  Doubtless  it  would 
have  been  more  prudent  in  him  not  to  have  assumed 
it.  But  it  continues  to  this  day  the  title  of  his  successors, 
a  standing  mark  of  egregious  hypocrisy!  That  which 
deceived  Gregory  in  this  case  was  the  erroneous  notion 
of  the  preeminence  of  his  own  see,  as  belonging  to  St. 
Peter;  yet  I  no  way  doubt  but  he  sincerely  abhorred 
the  pride  of  the  eastern  prelate.  Had  he  himself,  how- 
ever, been  more  completely  humble  and  less  supersti- 
tious, he  would  have  suffered  the  affair  to  pass  with 
greater  indifference.  While  in  one  respect  we  behold 
this  good  man  acting  the  patriot  and  the  christian,  re- 
lieving the  distressed  and  ransoming  the  captives  with 
unbounded  liberality,  nominally  possessing  great  ec- 

*  B.  iv.  ep.  75  f  B'  '^'^  ^P-  "^^^ 


f. 


72 

clesiastical  wealth,  but  employing  it  all  to  the  most  be-- 
neficent  purposes,  and  sparing  no  labour  or  fatigue,  in 
another  we  see  him  writing  and  negotiating  with  per- 
severing vehemence  concerning  a  title,  in  which, 
though  his  cause  was  unquestionably  just,  his  eager- 
ness was  far  too  sanguine.  He  solicited  the  emperor 
Mauritius  on  the  subject,  but  in  vain.  And  this  was 
an  additional  cause  of  the  prejudices,  which  they  im- 
bibed against  each  other. 

Mauritius  cannot  be  vindicated  in  supporting  the 
odious  pride  of  John  against  the  just  demands  of  Gre- 
gory. The  evil,  by  the  countenance  of  the  emperor, 
continued;  and  John's  successor  assumed  the  same 
antichristian  title.  But  Gregory  had  still  more  weighty 
causes  of  complaint,  and  such  as  his  episcopal  duty 
called  on  him  to  lay  before  the  emperor. 

This  he  did  in  a  letter  to  Constantia,  the  empress. 
*'  Knowing,"  says  he,  "that  there  were  many  gen- 
tiles* in  Sardinia,  that  they  worshipped  idols,  and  that 
the  clergy  were  remiss  in  preaching  our  Redeemer  to 
them,  I  sent  a  bishop  from  Italy  thither,  who,  the  hand 
of  the  Lord  being  with  him,  brought  over  many  of 
them  to  the  faith.  I  am  informed  that  those,  who  per- 
severe in  idolatry,  give  a  fee  to  the  judge  of  the  island, 
that  they  may  be  allowed  to  do  so  with  impunity. 
Some,  having  been  baptized,  and  ceasing  to  worship 
idols,  are  still  obliged  to  pay  the  same  fine  to  the 
judge:!  who,  when  the  bishop  blamed  him,  answered, 

*  The  term  means  idolaters  in  the  language  of  the  fathers.  B.  iv. 
ep.  77. 

f  Gregory  was  much  afflicted  to  find,  that  almost  all  the  peasants  of 
the  island  were  still  idolaters.  Januarius,  bishop  of  Cagliari,  was  indolent; 
the  slaves  belonging  to  his  own  church  were  idolaters;  the  other  bishops 
of  the  province  were  equally  negligent.  Hospiton,  the  chief  of  the  barba- 
rians, had,  however,  received  the  gospel;  and  to  him  Gregory  re- 
commended his  missionaries,  exhorting  him  to  exert  himself  for  the  sal- 
vation of  his  countrymen.  Gregory  rebuked  Januarius  for  his  neglect  of 
discipline  in  general,  though  he  had  exercised  it  severely  in  one  instance, 
in  which  he  had  met  with  a  personal  aftront.  The  world  is  still  the  same; 
I  could  wish  that  what  has  been  mentioned  did  not  give  just  cause  to  the 
reader,  to  recollect  not  only  the  state  of  religion  in  the  West  Indies,  but 
nearer  at  home,  in  Ireland,  in  which,  notwithstanding  there  are  such  a 
number  of  bishoprics  and  churches,  a  superstitious  and  idolatrous  religion 
prevails  to  this  day. 


73 

that  he  had  paid  so  much  money  for  the  purchase  of 
his  office,  that  he  could  not  recover  his  expenses  but 
by  such  perquisites.  The  island  of  Corsica  also  is  op- 
pressed with  such  exactions  and  grievances,  that  the  in- 
habitants are  scarce  able  to  pay  the  tributes  even  by  the 
sale  of  their  children.  Hence  a  number  of  proprietors 
in  the  island,  relinquishing  the  Roman  government, 
are  reduced  to  put  themselves  under  the  protection  of 
the  Lombards.  For  what  more  grievous  oppression  can 
they  suffer  from  the  barbarians,  than  to  be  obliged  to 
sell  their  children?  I  know  that  the  emperor  will  say, 
that  the  whole  produce  of  the  revenue  in  these  islands 
is  applied  to  the  support  and  defence  of  Italy.  Be  it  so; 
but  a  divine  blessing  ought  not  to  be  expected  to  at- 
tend the  gains  of  sin."  He  wrote  again  to  the  empress, 
against  the  pride  of  John,  and  speaks  superstitiously 
on  the  merits  of  St.  Peter,  while  he  laments  his  own 
unworthiness.  Twenty- seven  years,  he  observes,  the 
Roman  church  had  suffered  from  the  desolation  of 
the  Lombards;  and  its  daily  expenses,  partly  on  ac- 
count of  the  war,  and  partly  in  the  support  of  the  indi- 
gent, were  incredibly  great. 

Gregory  had  also  other  just  causes  of  complaint 
against  the  emperor.  Property,  he  saw,  was  intirely 
fluctuatnig  and  insecure  on  account  of  oppressive  ex- 
actions, insidious  proceedings  in  wills,  and  various  ar- 
tificers employed  by  the  emperor's  ministers.*  These 
evils  were  constantly  practised  in  Italy,  and  Gregory 
had  deplored  them  in  vain. 

Evagrius  delivers  a  very  pompous  encomium  on  the 
character  of  Mauritius.!  But  his  praise  is  declamatory 
and  vague,  and  Mauritius  was  then  living.  After  all 
due  allowances  made  on  account  of  the  emperor's  dis- 
tance from  Italy,  it  is  impossible  to  vindicate  his  con- 
duct. He  wanted  not  military  virtues,  and  had  some 
sense  of  religion.  But  avarice  was  the  predominant 
feature  of  his  character;  and  how  much  this  vice  pre- 
vails to  eclipse  all  laudable  qualities  in  a  man,  was  ne- 

"  B.  XI.  ep.  36.  +  Toward  the  close  of  his  history. 


74 

ver  more  illustrated  than  in  the  conduct  of  Mauritius, 
Chagan,  king  of  the  Avares,  a  Scythian  nation  on  the 
banks  of  the  Danube,  offered,  for  a  ransom,  to  liberate 
some  thousands  of  prisoners.  He  even  proposed  to  do 
it  at  a  low  price;  but  Mauritius  would  not  part  with  his 
money,  and  the  barbarian  in  a  rage  massacred  all  his 
prisoners.  Mauritius,  though  covetous,  was  not  inhu- 
man: he  was  struck  with  horror  at  the  news,  and  be- 
sought God,  that  his  punishment  might  be  in  this  life, 
not  in  the  next.  His  prayer  was  answered  in  the  former 
part  of  it  undoubtedly,  and  1  hope  also  in  the  latter. 
As  he  had  alienated  the  affections  of  his  soldiers  by  his 
refusal  to  supply  their  wants,  they  elevated  Phoc  iis  a 
centurion,  to  the  imperial  throne.  Mauritius  fled,  but 
was  seized,  and  inhumanly  murdered  with  his  wife  and 
family.  Five  of  his  sons  were  slain  in  his  sight  before 
he  himself  received  the  fatal  stroke.  7"he  little  spark 
of  divine  grace,  which  for  years  seems  to  have  main- 
tained a  dubious  existence  in  a  heart,  by  nature  ex- 
tremely avaricious,  was  fanned  into  a  flame  by  the  keen 
blast  of  wholesome  affliction.  Mauritius  bore  the 
scene  with  silent  resignation,  repeating  only,  as  each 
of  his  children  was  butchered,  "  Righteous  art  thou,  O 
Lord,  and  true  are  thy  judgments."  A  nurse,  who  took 
care  of  his  youngest  son,  placed  her  own  in  its  room: 
Mauritius  detecting  the  generous  fraud,  discovered  it 
to  the  executioners,  and  prevented  its  eflPect.  This  is  a 
transaction  of  civil  history,  but  it  falls  in  with  our  plan. 
The  great  faults  of  one,  who  had  a  latent  spark  of 
grace  within  him,  were  punished  in  this  life  by  the 
wickedness  of  the  monster  Phocas,  and  the  story  de- 
serves to  be  remembered  as  a  beacon  to  warn  profes- 
sors of  godliness  against  the  love  of  the  world.  Mau- 
ritius seems  to  have  profited  abundantly  by  the  scourge, 
and  to  have  died  in  such  a  frame  of  mind,  as  belongs 
only  to  a  christian.  We  are  not  apt  to  be  aware  of  the 
advantages  which  society  reC'  ives  from  Christianity. 
Let  us  suppose  this  emperor  to  have  been  totally  un- 
acquainted with,  or  intirely  averse  to  christian  princi- 
ples. How  immensely  more  pernicious  his  natural  dis- 


75 

position  would  have  been,  unchecked  internally,  as 
well  as  externally,  can  scarce  be  conceived. 

The  images  of  Phocas  and  of  his  wife  Leontia,  were 
sent  to  Rome,  and  received  with  much  respect  by  the 
people,  and  by  Gregory  himself.  It  cannot  be  suppos- 
ed, that  the  bishop  of  Rome  could  be  acquainted  with 
the  personal  character  of  Phocas,  who  was  in  truth  a 
man  of  extraordinary  wickedness;  and  the  late  trans- 
actions at  Constantinople  would  naturally  be  misre- 
presented to  him  in  the  accounts  transmitted  thence. 
Prejudiced  as  he  was  against  Mauritius,  and  willing 
to  hope  better  things  from  the  new  emperor,  he  wrote 
him  a  congratulatory  letter,  in  which  he  studiously 
avoided  saying  any  thing  on  the  detail  of  circum- 
stances, of  which  he  must  have  been  very  insufficiently 
informed,  and  dwelt  on  that  which  was  certain,  namely, 
the  adorable  hand  of  divine  providence  in  changing 
the  times,  and  in  transferring  kingdoms,  as  he  pleases. 
He  exults  in  the  prospect  which  he  had  too  eagerly 
formed  of  a  wise,  just,  and  pious  administration.  He 
modestly  hints  at  the  great  abuses  of  the  late  govern- 
ment, and  exhorts  Phocas  to  redress  them,  reminding 
him,  "  that  a  Roman  emperor  commands  freemen,  and 
not  slaves."*  Such  is  the  substance  of  his  letter,  in 
which  I  see  nothing  unworthy  of  the  piety  and  patriot- 
ism of  Gregory,  but  much  of  his  wonted  care  for  the 
good  of  the  church  and  the  public. 

Gregory  wrote  again  to  Phocas,  to  apologize  for  the 
want  of  a  deacon,  who  should  reside  at  Constantino- 
ple. Phocas  had  complained  to  him  of  this,  and  invi- 
ted him  to  send  one.  The  bishop  informed  him,  that 
the  severity  of  the  late  government  had  deterred  all 
clergymen  from  going  thither.  But,  as  he  now  hoped 
better  things,  he  sent  him  a  person,  whom  he  recom- 
mended to  his  protection.  He  beseeches  Phocas  to 
listen  to  his  relation  of  facts,  as  he  would  thence  learn 
more  distinctly  the  miseries,  which  Italy  had  sustained 
without  redress,  for  thirty-five  years,  from  the  Lom- 

*  B.  x^.  ep.  36 


76 

bards.*  Is  it  at  all  surprising,  that  this  language  should 
be  used  by  a  man  who  sincerely  loved  his  country, 
and  knew  little  of  the  new  emperor;  who  probably  had 
received  a  false  account  of  his  actions  and  character, 
and  who  had  so  long  been,  on  christian  principles, 
both  patient  and  loyal  to  an  oppressive  government? 

In  another  letter  to  Leontia  he  is  not  to  be  excused 
from  the  charge  of  an  unhappy  superstition.  He  talks 
of  Peter  the  apostle,  reminds  her  of  the  scripture  text, 
on  the  perverted  use  of  which  hangs  the  whole  struc- 
ture of  the  papacy,!  and  of  his  intercession  in  heaven. 
He  prays,  that  she  and  her  husband  may  be  endowed 
with  princely  virtues,  and  expresses,  I  will  not  say 
with  flattery,  but  with  an  expectation  much  too  san- 
guine, his  hopes  of  the  blessings  of  the  new  adminis- 
tration. 

Phocas  was  displeased  with  Cyriacus,  the  bishop  of 
Constantinople,  because  he  had  generously  interested 
himself  in  favour  of  the  remaining  branches  of  Mau- 
ritius's  family;  and  while  he  courted  the  favour  of 
Gregory  and  of  the  Romans  at  a  distance,  he  tyran- 
nized at  home  in  an  uncommon  manner.  But  Gregory 
died  the  next  year  after  Phocas's  promotion,  and  had 
not,  probably,  time  enough  to  know  his  genuine 
character,  and  was  himself  also  so  bowed  down  with 
pains  and  infirmities,  that  he  was  unable  to  answer  a 
letter  of  Theodelinda,  queen  of  the  Lombards.  He 
had  promised  to  do  it,  if  his  health  was  restored;  but 
he  grew  less  and  less  capable  of  business  till  he  died. 
Had  health  and  opportunity  permitted,  the  vigor  and 
piety  of  his  character  give  me  no  room  to  doubt,  that 
he  would  have  rebuked  the  Roman  tyrant  in  such  a 
manner,  as  to  have  quite  silenced  the  accusations, 
which,  on  this  account,  have  been  thrown  upon  him. 
That  he  should  have  opposed  the  usurpation  of  Pho- 
cas, will  not  be  expected  from  those  who  consider  the 
views  of  the  primitive  christians,  who  intermeddled 
not  with  politics;  but  he,  who  plainly  rebuked  Man- 

*  B.  xj,  ep.  43.  t  Matth.  svi.  18. 


77 


ritius,  would  certainly  not  have  spared  his  successor, 
whose  conduct  was  far  more  blamable.  * 


CHAP.  VII. 

Gregory'' s  Conduct  with  respect  to  England. 

1  HIS  also  has  been  a  source  of  much  accusation 
against  the  Roman  prelate.  Protestant  writers,  in  their 
zeal  against  poper}^  have  censured  his  domineering 
spirit  with  acrimony,  as  if  the  British  christians  had 
been  protestants,  and  the  Roman  christians  papists, 
accurately  speaking.  But  Gregory  was  no  pope,  nor 
had  the  Britons  separated  from  the  general  church, 
and  formed  a  purer  establishment  of  their  own.  Super-, 
stition  and  ecclesiastical  power,  in  the  excess,  adhered 
indeed  to  the  conduct  of  the  Roman  prelate,  as  the 
fault  of  the  age,  not  of  his  temper;  and  if  he  had  per- 
fectly avoided  the  fashionable  evils  of  his  time,  he 
would  have  been,  I  had  almost  said,  more  than  human. 
But  the  ideas,  peculiarly  popish,  were  not  yet  matu- 
red in  the  churches.  Dissenting  writers,  I  find,  have 
been  seduced  by  the  same  sort  of  prejudices  as  divines 
of  the  church  of  England,  and  it  is  curious  to  observe, 
how  different  writers  can  find,  in  the  features  of  the 
British  church,  the  very  figure  of  their  own  denomi- 
nation. I  ought  to  profit  by  the  mistake  of  others; 
that  is,  to  forget  my  own  times  and  connexions;  to 
transplant  myself  into  the  age  of  which  I  write;  to 
make  liberal  allowances  for  its  customs  and  prejudi- 
ces, and  to  enable  the  reader,  from  facts  themselves, 
to  form  his  own  judgment. 

For  near  a  century  and  a  half  the  gospel  of  Christ 

*  Phocas  took  awaj'the  title  of  universal  bishop  from  the  prelate  of  Con- 
stantinople, and  granted  it  to  Boniface  III.  the  next  successor  but  one  to 
Gregory.  After  Phocas's  death  the  prelate  of  tlie  east  reassumed  the  title. 
The  two  bishops  each  preserved  it,  and  with  equal  anjbition  strove  for  the 
preeminence. 'For  Greg'ory,  who  abhorred  all  view.s  of  secular  ambition, 
had  now  departed  this  life. 

Vol.  III.  11 


78 

had  been  declining  in  Britain,  and  for  the  greatest  part 
of  that  time  had  been,  as  we  have  seen,  confined  to 
Wales  and  Cornwall,  or  to  the  mountains  of , Scotland. 
Ireland  too  still  preserved  something  of  the  light, 
while  the  Angles  or  Saxons,  our  ancestors,  destroyed 
every  evangelical  appearance  in  the  heart  of  the  island. 
No  barbarians  were  ever  more  ferocious  or  more 
idolatrous;  and  the  Britons,  who  escaped  their  rava- 
ges, oppressed  one  another  with  civil  broils.  Being 
favoured  with  some  cessation  from  their  wars  with 
the  Saxons,  they  lost  by  degrees  all  traces  of  former 
piety,  though  the  form  of  Christianity  still  remained. 
One  proof  among  others,  which  the  old  historian 
Gildas  gives  of  their  intire  want  of  christian  zeal,  is, 
that  they  took  not  the  least  pains  for  the  conversion  of 
the  Saxons.  Seven  Saxon  kingdoms,  called  the  Hep- 
tarchy, were  now  formed,  altogether  ignorant  and 
idolatrous,  while  the  few  British  churches  were  inat- 
tentive to  the  propagation  of  christian  truth  in  the 
island.  And  the  Saxons  continued,  some  of  them  for 
a  century,  others  more  than  two  centuries,  immersed 
in  darkness.* 

One  cannot  form  any  agreeable  idea  either  of  the 
piety  or  of  the  knowledge  of  the  British  christians, 
from  these  circumstances.  Nor  are  the  excuses,  which 
our  protestant  historians  are  inclined  to  make  for  their 
Avant  of  zeal,  at  all  satisfactory.  It  has  been  said  that, 
"  the  hostilities  of  the  Angles  would  make  such  at- 
tempts to  be  arduous;"  but  let  the  reader  only  reflect 
how  such  difficulties  were  surmounted  by  ^alous  and 
charitable  christians  in  former  ages.f  I  cannot  but 
therefore  subscribe  to  the  testimony  of  our  ancient 
historians, J  "  that  much  worthier  pastors  were  sent 
by  the  divine  goodness,  through  whom,  those,  whom 
God  had  foreknown,  might  believe  to  salvation."  A 
testimony  as  evangelical  in  its  language,  as  it  is  solid 
in  fact. 

It  was  about  150  years  after  the  arrival  of  the  Sax- 

"'  Bcde.     f  See  Warner's  Eccl.  Hist,  towards  the  beginnnig-.     i  Bcdc. 


79 

ons  in  Britain,  that  Gregory  sent  his  famous  mission 
into  our  island,  toward  the  close  of  the  sixth  century. 
It  was  no  sudden  thought,  but  the  effect  of  much  de- 
liberation. Even  before  his  consecration  at  Rome, 
walking  one  day  in  the  forum,  he  saw  some  very  hand- 
some youths  exposed  to  sale.  Asking  of  what  country 
they  were,  he  was  informed  they  were  of  the  island  of 
Britain.  "Are  the  inhabitants  of  that  island  christians 
or  pagans?"  They  are  pagans,  was  the  reply.  Alas! 
said  he,  deeply  sighing,*  that  the  prince  of  darkness 
should  possess  countenances  so  luminous,  and  that  so 
fair  a  front  should  carry  minds  destitute  of  eternal 
grace.  What  is  the  nanie  of  the  nation?  Angli,  it  was 
said,  "  In  truth  they  have  angelic  countenances,  and 
it  is  a  pity  they  should  not  be  coheirs  with  angels  in 
heaven.  What  is  the  province  from  which  they  come?" 
Deira,  that  is  Northumberland,  he  was  told.  It  is  well, 
said  he,  De  ira,  snatched  from  the  wrath  of  God,  and 
called  to  the  mercy  of  Christ.  "  What  is  the  name  of 
their  king?"  Ella,  was  the  answer.  Playing  upon  the 
name,  "  Alleluia  should  be  sung  to  God  in  those  re- 
gions. "*  Impressed  with  the  importance  of  the  object, 
he  earnestly  entreated  the  then  Roman  bishop  to  send 
a  mission  to  the  island,  offering  himself  as  one  ready 
for  the  task.  Nothing  but  the  officious  benevolence  of 
the  Roman  citizens  prevented  the  work  at  that  time. 
Gregory  was  too  much  beloved  at  Rome,  to  be  allowed 
to  leave  it. 

It  was  the  character  of  Gregory  to  pursue  with  un- 
wearied attention  any  jjlan  or  scheme  of  piety  or  disci- 
pline, which  he  had  once  conceived.  After  his  conse- 
cration, in  the  year  595  he  directed  a  presbyter,  whom 
he  had  sent  into  France,  to  instruct  some  young  Sax- 
ons of  seventeen  or  eighteen  years  of  age  in  christiani- 

*  I  leave  to  fiistldious  sceptics,  such  as  the  historian  Hume,  to  sneer  at 
Gregory's  want  of  taste  in  these  several  allusions.  The  candid  reader  will 
impute  them  to  tjie  times,  not  to  the  man;  and  the  devout  and  charitable 
will  adore  the  goodness  of  God,  which  was  beginning  to  provide  such  pre- 
cious benefits  for  our  country;  benefits,  which  call  for  ceaseless  gratitude 
to  the  Author  of  all  good,  and  should  endear  the  memory  of  the  Roman 
prelate  to  our  latest  posterity. 


80 

ty.  He  intended  to  prepare  them  for  the  mission  into 
our  island;  and  in  the  year  597  he  actually  sent  mis- 
sionaries thither.  They  were  a  number  of  monks,  at 
the  head  of  whom  was  one  named  Augustine.  In  obe- 
dience to  Gregory's  directions  they  proceeded  on  their 
journey;  but  their  hearts  failed  them,  when  they  re- 
flected on  the  difficulties  and  dangers  to  which  they 
thought  themselves  likely  to  be  exposed.  The  faith 
and  zeal  and  simplicity  of  a  christian  missionary  were 
at  this  time  grown  rare  in  the  world;  and  Augustine 
was  sent  back  by  the  rest,  to  entreat  Gregory  to  dis- 
charge them  from  the  service.  The  prelate  wrote  ex- 
hortatory  letters,  advising  them  to  proceed  in  confi- 
dence of  divine  aid.  He  informed  them,  that  it  had 
been  better  not  to  have  begun  a  good  work,  than  to 
recede  from  it  afterwards.  He  eiitreated  them  not  to 
be  deterred  by  the  labour  of  the  journey,  nor  by  the 
breath  of  malevolence.  He  set  before  them  the  hea- 
venly prospects,  and  prayed  that  he  himself  might  see 
the  fruit  of  their  labour  in  the  eternal  country.  For 
though,  says  he,  I  cannot  labour  with  you,  may  I  at 
the  same  time  be  found  in  the  joy  of  retribution,  be- 
cause I  am  willing  to  labour!  Nor  did  he  neglect  any 
means  proper  to  accommodate  the  missionaries:  he 
recommended  them  to  the  attention  of  Etherius,  bishop 
of  Aries,  and  secured  them  all  the  assistance  in  France, 
that  might  expedite  their  passage  into  Britain,  and 
every  convenience  which  they  needed.  Thus  animated, 
they  arrived  in  Britain.* 

There  was,  however,  a  remarkable  concurrence  of 
providential  circumstances,  which  facilitated  the  work, 
and  gave  it  a  more  expeditious  success  than  might 
have  been  expected  from  appearances.  It  is  very  ob- 
servable, how  much  the  Lord  has  made  use  of  women 
in  the  propagation  of  the  gospel  among  idolaters.  To 
former  instances  of  this  sort,  we  must  add,  that  two 
queens  were  concerned  in  this  work,  one  of  whom 
was  the  infamous  Brunehalt,  whose  correspondence- 

*  Bede,  b.  . 


81 

with  Gregory  has  been  noticed.  Desirous  to  cover  her 
vices  by  the  appearance  of  religion,  she  had,  at  Grego- 
ry's request,  given  the  missionaries  e  very  possible  assist- 
ance. The  other,  a  character  on  whom  the  mind  will 
dwell  with  pleasure,  was  Bertha,  the  only  daughter  of 
Caribert,  king  of  Paris,  a  descendent  of  Clovis.  She 
had  been  married  to  Ethelbert,  in  his  father' s  lifetime, 
who  was  now  king  of  Kent,  and  one  of  the  most  wise 
and  powerful  of  the  Saxon  princes.  He  had  not  been 
allowed  to  marry  the  French  princess,  but  on  the  ex- 
press stipulation,  that  she  should  be  permitted  to  make 
free  profession  of  Christianity,  in  which  she  had  been 
educated.  She  brought  over  with  her  a  French  bishop 
to  the  court  of  Dorobernium,  now  Canterbury.  Her 
principles  were  firm  and  sound:  her  conduct  was  wor- 
thy of  the  christian  name;  and  her  influence  over  her 
husband  was  considerable.  Her  zealous  piety  was  not 
inferior  to  that  of  the  queen  Clovis,  which  had  been 
attended  with  such  happy  consequences  in  France, 
and  every  thing  conspired  to  favour  the  missionaries. 
Ethelbert  assigned  Augustine  an  habitation  in  the 
isle  of  Thanet.  Here  he  remained  at  first  with  his  as- 
sociates, who  were  nearly  forty.  By  the  direction  of 
Gregory,  they  had  taken  with  them  French  interpre- 
ters, by  whose  means  they  informed  the  king,  that  they 
were  come  from  Rome,*  and  brought  him  the  best 
tidings  in  the  world,  eternal  life  to  those  who  received 
them,  and  the  endless  enjoyment  of  life  with  the  living 
and  true  God.  After  some  days  Ethelbert  paid  them 
a  visit;  but  being  apprehensive  of  enchantments,  he 
took  care  to  receive  them  in  the  open  air,  where  he 
thought  he  should  be  safer  than  in  an  house.  The  mis- 
sionaries met  him,  singing  litanies  for  their  own  sal- 
vation, and  that  of  those  for  whose  sake  they  came 
thither. t  Sitting  down  by  the  king's  direction,  they 

*  Bede  b.  i.  ep.  25,  &c. 

t  As  I  write  not  the  history  of  superstition,  but  of  christian  religion,  1 
think  nut  myself  obliged  to  copy  all  the  accounts  I  meet  with  in  ancient 
records  which  relate  to  the  former.  Justice,  in  the  extreme,  has  been 
done  to  them  bv  other  writers. 


t 

82 

preached  to  him  and  his  attendants  the  word  of  life. 
I  cannot  produce  the  smallest  extract  of  the  sermon; 
but  that  it  explained  the  fundamentals,  at  least,  of  the 
gospel,  there  seems  no  reason  to  doubt.  One  may  form 
some  idea  of  it  by  rhe  king's  answer,  which  was  to  this 
effect.  "  They  are  fine  words  and  promises,  which  ye 
bring,  but  because  they  are  new  and  uncertain,  I  cane 
not  aiford  my  assent  to  them,  nor  relinquish  those 
things,  which  for  so  long  a  time  I  have  observed  with 
all  the  English  nation.  But  as  ye  are  come  hither  from 
a  great  distance,  and  as  I  seem  to  discover,  that  ye 
are  willing  to  communicate  to  us  those  things,  which 
ye  believe  to  be  true  and  most  excellent,  we  are  not 
willing  to  disturb  you,  but  rather  to  receive  you  in  a 
friendly  manner,  and  to  afford  you  things  necessary 
for  your  support;  nor  do  we  hinder  you  from  uniting 
all,  whom  ye  can  persuade  by  preaching,  to  the  faith 
of  your  religion.  He  gave  them  a  mansion  in  the  royal 
city  of  Canterbury,  with  all  necessary  accommodations, 
and  the  license  of  preaching  the  word.  As  they  ap- 
proached the  city,  they  sang  in  concert  this  litany: 
We  pray  thee,  O  Lord,  in  all  thy  mercy,  that  thine 
anger  and  thy  fury  may  be  removed  from  this  city, 
and  from  thy  holy  house,  because  we  have  sinned. 
Alleluia. 

Certainly  the  human  mind  was  in  a  debased  and 
childish  state  at  this  time  throughout  a  great  part  of 
the  world.  It  had  long  been  sinking  in  its  powers  and 
taste;  and  while  paganism  existed  in  the  Roman  em- 
pire, the  heathen  philosophers  and  orators  appear  no 
way  superior  to  christian  authors  and  pastors  in  the 
use  and  cultivation  of  the  understanding.  Such  men 
as  Gregory  and  his  missionaries  should  not  be  com- 
pared with  Cicero  and  Demosthenes,  but  with  their 
own  contemporaries;  and  had  this  been  done  by  wri- 
ters who  treat  them  with  perfect  contempt,  the  injus- 
tice of  that  contempt  would  have  appeared.  It  must 
be  expected,  that  the  work  of  divine  grace  in  different 
ages,  will,  in  its  effects  and  manifestations,  exhibit 
the  complexion  and  colour  of  the  objects  with  which 


83 

it  is  surrounded.  The  subtilty  of  Satan  will  not  fail  to 
take  every  possible  advantage  of  this  circumstance; 
and  I  can  believe  that  even  more  superstitions  than 
those  recorded  by  Bede  attended  the  labours  of  the 
Roman  missionaries.  In  our  own  times  of  refinement, 
evils  far  more  plausible,  but  not  less  pernicious,  ac- 
company the  same  salutary  work.  I  have  not,  how- 
ever, observed  any  thing  idolatrous  or  otherwise  di- 
rectly subversive  of  Christianity  to  have  yet  prevailed 
in  any  of  the  fashionable  superstitions.  These  things 
being  premised,  let  us  consider  what  most  probably 
was  the  doctrine  preached  by  Augustine;  1  say  pro- 
bably, since  the  wretched  narratives  from  which  I 
draw  my  information  have  given  no  account.  That 
eternal  salvation  and  forgiveness  of  sin  by  the  blood 
of  the  Lamb,  was  his  capital  doctrine,  seems  evident 
in  a  great  measure  from  Ethelbert's  observation  of 
the  good  news  which  they  brought.   I  may  still  more 
confidently  say,  that  his  sermon  was  not  a  system  of 
moral   duties.  For   how  could  that   be   called  good 
news?  All  the  difficulty  with  Ethelbert  was  to  believe 
what  they  promised;  the  very  same  difficulty  which 
strikes  all  unrenewed  minds  at  the  first  hearing  of  the 
gospel.  And  when  to  this  we  add  what  we  certainly 
know  of  Gregory's  sentiments,  and  consider  Augus- 
tine as  preaching  according  to  his  views,  the  evidence 
seems  to  rise  even  beyond  probability.  Ethelbert,  a 
prudent  and  sensible  prince,  though,  as  yet  at  least, 
by  no  means  convinced  of  the  truth  of  Christianity, 
sees  no  suspicious  mask  in  the  language  and  conduct 
of  the  preachers.  The  air  of  genuine  sincerity  is  sim- 
ple and  above  the  possibility  of  imitation.  Candid  and 
intelligent  minds  perceive  it  almost  intuitively.  The 
king  of  Kent  could  see  no  selfish  motive  that  was 
likely  to  influence  these  men.   They  spake  with  an 
earnestness  that  showed  their  own  conviction  of  the 
excellency  of  their  doctrine,  and  their  desire  of  profit- 
ing their  fellow  creatures.  Not  an  atom  of  gain  was  to 
be  acquired  to  the  see  of  Rome:  the  whole  mission 
was  disinterested.  Hence  the  candid  prince  was  in  • 


84 

duced  to  give  them  countenance;  and  the  gospel  ap- 
pears to  have  been  preached,  and  that  with  plainness 
and  sincerity,  by  the  missionaries. 

Their  conduct  at  Canterbury  was  correspondent 
to  these  beginnings.  They  prayed,  fasted,  watched, 
preached  the  word  of  life  to  all,  as  opportunity  served: 
they  lived  as  men  above  the  world:  received  nothing 
from  those  whom  they  taught,  except  necessaries: 
they  practised  what  they  taught,  and  showed  a  readi- 
ness to  suffer  or  even  to  die  for  the  truth  which  they 
preached.  Some  believed  and  were  baptized,  admiring 
their  innocent  lives,  and  tasting  the  sweetness  of  their 
doctrine.  Near  the  city  there  was  an  old  church,  built 
in  the  times  of  the  Romans,  in  which  queen  Bertha 
was  wont  to  pray.  In  this  the  missionaries  first  held 
their  assemblies,  sang,  prayed,  preached,  and  bap- 
tized, till  the  king  himself  being  converted  to  the 
faith, ^'"  they  obtained  a  larger  license  of  preaching 
every  where,  and  of  building  or  repairing  churches. 
When  he  himself,  among  others,  delighted  with  the 
holiness  of  their  lives,  and  the  preciousness  of  gospel 
promises  confirmed  by  many  miracles,t  believed  and 
was  baptized,  numbers  crowded  to  hear,  and  received 
the  word.  The  king  congratulating  the  new  converts, 
declared  that  he  would  compel  no  man  to  become  a 
christian;  however  he  embraced  those  who  did  so  wi^ 
a  more  intimate  affection  as  fellow  heirs  of  the  gra^ 
of  life.  For  the  missionaries  had  taught  him,  that  tlie 
service  of  Christ  ought  to  be  voluntary,  not  compul- 
sive. He  now  gave  to  them  a  settlement  in  Canter- 
bury, suited  to  their  station,  with  all  necessary  ac- 
commodations. 

Augustine  returning  into  France  received  ordina- 
tion, as  the  archbishop  of  the  English  nation,  from 
the  bishop  of  Aries,  and  returning  into  Britain,  sent 

*  I  hope  Bede's  expression  (b.  i.  ep.  26  )  is  true  in  the  proper  sense  of 
the  words. 

f  What  shall  be  said  concerning  these  miracles?  The  credulity  of  that 
age  should  not  lead  one  to  deny  all  that  is  said  of  them.  It  was  a  new- 
scene:  evangelists  were  preaching  among  pagans.  Certain  it  is,  that 
every  one  concerned  in  those  scenes  believed  their  reality. 


85 

Laurentius  the  presbyter,  and  Peter  the  monk,  to  ac- 
quaint Gregory  with  his  success,  and  to  receive  an- 
swers to  various  questions.  To  his  inquiries  concern- 
ing the  maintenance  of  the  clergy,  Gregory  answered, 
that  the  donations  made  to  the  church  were,  by  the 
customs  of  the  Roman  see,  divided  into  four  por- 
tions, one  for  the  bishop  and  his  family  to  support 
hospitality,  a  second  to  the  clergy,  a  third  to  the  poor, 
a  fourth  to  the  reparation  of  churches:  that  as  the  pas- 
tors were  all  monks,  they  ought  to  live  in  common, 
with  a  remarkable  exception,  which  proves  that  the 
absolute  prohibition  of  marriage,  one  of  the  marks  of 
antichrist,"*  was  not  yet  enjoined  the  clergy,  namely, 
that  those  of  them  who  preferred  the  marriage  state, 
might  be  allowed  to  marry,  and  receive  their  mainte- 
nance out  of  the  monastery.  To  another  question 
which  related  to  the  diversity  of  customs  and  liturgies 
in  different  churches,  the  answer  of  Gregory  was  libe- 
ral; namely,  that  the  new  bishop  was  not  bound  to 
follow  the  precedent  of  Rome,  but  that  he  might 
select  whatever  parts  or  rules  appeared  the  most 
eligible,  and  best  adapted  to  promote  the  piety  of  the 
infant  church  of  England,  and  compose  them  into  a 
system  for  its  use.  A  number  of  other  questions  and 
answers  are  recorded  likewise,  too  uninteresting  to 
deserve  a  place  here.-j-  Yet  amidst  the  childish  super- 
stition of  the  times,  the  enlightened  mind  of  Gregory 
appears;  and  his  occasional  comment  on  St.  Paul's 
words,  concerning  the  law  in  his  members  warring 
against  the  law  of  his  mind,  in  which  the  bishop  un- 
derstands the  apostle  as  describing  himself  to  be  free 
and  enslaved  at  the  same  time  with  a  double  respect 
to  his  natural  and  spiritual  state,  evinces  the  solidity 
of  his  evangelical  knowledge. 

Augustine  having  intimated,  that  the  harvest  was 
plenteous,  but  that  the  labourers  were  few,  Gregory 
sent  him  more  missionaries,  and  directed  him  to  con- 
stitute a  bishop  at  York,  who  might  have  other  subor- 

•  1  Tim.  Iv.  t  Bede,  b.  I  c.  2". 

Vol.  III.  12 


86 

dinate  bishops;  yet,  in  such  a  manner,  that  Augustine 
of  Canterbury  should  be  metropolitan  of  all  England. 
— Such  were  the  rudiments  of  the  English  church. 
Gregory  has  been  censured  for  being  too  eager  in 
settling  a  plan  of  ecclesiastical  government  for  places 
as  yet  not  in  the  least  evangelized:  and  it  must  be 
owned,  that  this  extreme  care  of  subordination  and 
uniformity  does  seem  premature;  but  the  spirit  of 
the  times  favoured  such  hasty  external  institutions. 

Gregory  thought  long  and  deeply  of  this  his  favour- 
ite infant  church;  and  wrote  to  Mellitus,  one  of  the 
missionaries  going  to  Britain,  an  account  of  the  fruits 
of  his  meditation;  which  were,*  that  the  idol  temples 
being  purged  of  their  uncleanness,  should  be  convert- 
ed into  churches  for  the  use  of  the  natives,  in  which 
they  might  worship  God,  according  to  the  gospel.  And 
reflecting  that  they  had  been  wont  to  sacrifice  to  de- 
mons, and  in  their  sacrifices  to  indulge  themselves  in 
feasts,  he  directs  that,  setting  apart  all  sacrifices  and 
whatever  was  connected  with  idolatry,  they  might  be 
allowed  on  the  day  of  the  church's  dedication,  or  on 
the  martyrdom  of  saints,  to  make  booths  for  them- 
selves in  the  neighbourhood  of  the  churches,  and  en- 
joy themselves  in  temperate  banquets.  This  latter  di- 
rection appears  dangerous:  the  reason  he  assigns  for  it, 
is,  that  the  English,  if  they  found  their  usual  entertain- 
ments to  be  altogether  prohibited,  might  be  induced 
to  relapse  into  idolatry.  I  cannot  compare  Gregory's 
compliances  to  the  Jesuitical  artifices  practised  in  after 
ages  among  the  Chinese,  because  it  appears  that  idola- 
try was  absolutely  prohibited,  and  the  real  christian 
religion  taught  in  Britain:  but  a  man,  who  knew  hu- 
man nature  so  well  as  this  bishop  did,  might  have  fore- 
seen the  practical  excesses  which  his  license  would  en- 
courage, and  should  have  committed  to  God  himself 
the  success  of  his  own  cause  among  the  English. 

Hearing  from  Augustine  of  his  miraculous  powers, 
Gregory,  who  seems  to  have  entertained  no  doubt  of 

'  Id.c.  SO. 


87 

their  reality,  cautions  him  excellently  against  pride  and 
presumption  on  their  account,  informs  him  that  they 
were  given  him  more  for  the  sake  of  the  new  converts 
than  of  himself,  and  teaches  him  the  all  important  les- 
son of  humility.  He  wrote  also  to  Ethelbert,  to  con- 
gratulate, instruct,  and  exhort  him,  setting  before  him 
the  example  of  the  great  Constantine,  and  pressing  him 
to  extend  the  propagation  of  the  gospel.*  His  zeal 
was  much  animated  by  the  near  prospect  which  he 
himself  had  of  the  end  of  the  world,  and  of  which  he 
failed  not  to  inform  the  king  of  Kent.f  I'he  latter 
reigned  fifty  years,  and  died  6 16.  J  As  a  statesman  he 
was  great,  as  a  christian  greater  still.  And  few  princes 
in  any  age  were  richer  blessings  to  their  subjects  than 
Ethelbert  and  Bertha. 

But  this  fine  gold  was  not  without  some  alloy!  Before 
these  events  there  existed,  in  Wales  particularly,  a 
British  church.  Augustine  willing  to  establish  an  uni- 
formity of  discipline  and  customs  in  the  island,  invited 

*  Hume  (cliap.  i.  of  his  History  of  En^^land)  represents  this  exhortation 
to  extend  the  propagation  of  the  gospel  as  inconsistent  with  the  conduct 
of  Augustine,  "  who  had  thought  proper  in  the  commencement  of  his 
mission,  to  assume  the  appearance  of  the  greatest  lenity."  Thus  it  is  that 
men,  more  mahgnant  than  mteUigent  in  christian  history,  pervert  facts, 
and  represent  pious  men  as  hypocritical  in  their  moderate  conduct,  The 
truth  is,  neither  Constantine,  nor  Theodosius,  nor  Gregory,  nor  any  of  the 
ancients  ever  compelled  any  man  to  become  a  christian,  either  in  the  be- 
ginning or  progress  of  religion.  Nor  does  any  thing  of  the  kind  appear  in 
Gregory's  letter  to  Ethelbert.  But  he,  liice  Theodosius,  directed,  that  the 
worship  of  idols  should  be  destroyed.  Men  were  allowed  to  remain  aloof 
all  their  days  from  Christianity,  if  they  pleased  Forced  conversions,  like 
those  of  popery  in  after  ages,  were  as  yet  unknown,  and  this  other  mark 
of  antichrist,  persecution,  as  yet  existed  not  in  the  church.  It  is  very 
possible,  that  the  indifferent  spirit  of  our  times  may  be  disgusted  with  that 
part  of  the  conduct  of  Theodosius  and  Gregory,  which  related  to  the  de- 
struction (jf  idols,  and  call  it  persecution.  Be  it  so:  I  have  (in  chap.  xvi. 
cent.  4.)  examined  this  point  with  as  mucli  exactness  as  I  can.  But  let  not 
men  of  sincere  piety  and  fervent  cliarity  for  the  good  of  souls,  be  repre- 
sented as  if  they  were  hypocritical  in  their  moderation  at  first,  and  as  if 
they  intended  to  establish  tyranny  afterwards.  Their  plan  was,  whether 
it  b-  agreeable  to  present  reigning  maxims  or  not,  to  compel  no  man  to 
receive  Christianity,  and  at  the  same  time  to  render  the  practice  of  idola- 
try  impracticable.  I  believe  many,  who  have  written  against  them  as  per- 
secutors, have  not  distinctly  understood  this  distinction.  All  I  contend 
for  here  is  this,  they  acted  consistently  and  uprightly. 

+  Gregory  had  already  written  to  queen  Bertha,  and  stimulated  her 
zeal  to  labour  for  the  conversion  of  her  husband. 

\U.c.  32. 


88 

the  Welsh  bishops  to  a  conference,  and  began  to  ad- 
monish them  to  enter  into  christian  peace  and  concord, 
that  with  hearts  united  they  might  join  in  evangelizmg 
the  pagans.  The  Britons  observed  Easter  at  a  season 
different  from  that  of  the  Roman  church,  and  did  many 
other  things  contrary  to  her  customs.  The  conference 
proved  fruitless;  the  Britons  would  hearken  to  no  pray- 
ers or  exhortations;  and  Augustine  in  the  close  had 
:'ecourse  to  a  miraculous  sign.*  A  blind  man  was  in- 
troduced to  be  healed.  We  are  told  that  the  Britons 
had  no  success;  but  that  Augustine's  prayers  were 
heard,  and  his  sight  was  restored.  The  Britons  were 
induced  to  confess,  that  Augustine  was  sent  of 
God,  but  pleaded  the  obstinacy  of  their  people, 
as  a  reason  for  their  noncompliance.  -A  second 
synod  was  appointed,  attended  by  seven  British  bi- 
shops, and  many  of  their  learned  men,  belonging  to 
the  famous  monastery  at  Bangor,  of  which  Dinoth  was 
at  that  time  the  abbot.  Before  these  came  to  the  synod, 
they  asked  the  advice  of  a  person  of  reputed  sanctity, 
whether  they  should  give  up  their  own  traditions  on 
the  authority  of  Augustine  or  not.  Let  humility,  said 
he,  be  the  test,  and  if  you  find,  when  you  come  to  the 
synod,  that  he  rises  up  to  you  at  your  approach,  obey 
him;  if  not,  let  him  be  despised  by  you.  On  so  preca- 
rious  an  evidence,  it  seems,  did  he  rest  the  proof  of  hu- 
mility. It  happened,  that  Augustine  continued  sitting 
on  their  arrival,  which  might  easily  have  taken  place, 
without  any  intentional  insult:  the  Britons  were  how- 
ever incensed,  and  would  hearken  to  no  terms  of  recon- 
ciliation. Augustine  proposed  to  them  to  agree  with 
him  only  in  three  things,  leaving  other  points  of  differ- 
ence undecided,  namely  to  observe  Easter  at  the  same 
time  with  the  rest  of  the  christian  world,  to  administer 
baptism  after  the  Roman  manner,  and  to  join  with  Au- 
gustine in  preaching  the  gospel  to  the  English.  In  all 
other  things,  saj's  he,  we  will  bear  you  with  patience. 
The  Britons  were  inexorable,  and  refused  to  acknow- 

*  Bed.  b.  ii,  c.2. 


89 

ledge  his  authority.  "  If  you  will  not  have  peace  with 
brethren,  said  the  archbishop  of  Canterbury,  roused 
at  length  into  an  unbecoming  warmth,  you  will  have 
war  with  enemies;  and  if  you  will  not  preach  to  the 
English  the  way  of  life,  you  will  suffer  death  at  their 
hands."  It  happened  afterwards,  that,  in  an  invasion 
of  the  pagan  Saxons  of  the  north,  the  Bangorian  monks 
were  cruelly  destroyed,  though  long  after  the  death 
of  Augustine.  He  died  in  peaceable  possession  of 
the  see  of  Canterbury,  after  having  lived  to  see  the 
gospel .  propagated  with  increasing  success.  He  or- 
dained Mellitus  and  Justus  bishops;  London  was 
brought  into  the  pale  of  the  church,  and  the  southern 
parts  of  the  island  found  die  benefit  of  his  labours,  and 
of  those  of  his  auxiliaries. 

I  shall  close  the  story  of  English  affairs  with  the 
death  of  Augustine,  which  happened  early  in  the  7th 
century.  And  as  the  ground  I  am  now  upon  has  iDeen 
disputed,  I  am  willing  to  lay  open  all  the  information 
which  antiquity  can  give  us.  Let  us  hear  some  other 
accounts  of  these  transactions. 

Writers,  who  have  been  studious  of  the  honour  of 
our  country,  tell  us,  that  when  Augustine  came  into 
England,  he  found  seven  bishops  and  an  archbishop 
supplied  with  godly  governors  and  abbots,  and  that 
the  church  was  in  goodly  order,  at  Bangor  particu- 
larly: that  Dinoth  the  abbot  showed  Augustine,  that 
they  owed  him  no  subjection:  that  their  bishops  had 
been  independent  of  Rome :  that  the  bishops  of  Rome 
had  no  more  right  to  their  obedience  than  other  chris- 
tians had,  and  that  the  bishop  of  Caerleon  upon  Usk 
was  their  proper  superior;*  and  that  in  revenge  for 
this  honest  assertion  of  their  independency,  the  Ken- 
tish king  procured  the  invasion  and  slaughter  of  the 
British  monks  mentioned  above. 

How  Christianity  was  afterwards  propagated  in  our 
island,  and  how  the  disputes  between  the  Roman  and 
British  churches  terminated,  will  properly  fall  under 

*  G.ilfridus  Monomctejisis,  b.  iv.  c.  12.  See  NichoUs  on  the  CommoTi 
Prayer, 


90 

our  consideration  hereafter.  In  the  mean  time  the  in- 
justice of  a  certain  writer*  to  the  memory  of  Gregory., 
in  accusing  him  of  exercising  tyranny  over  the  British 
church,  is  very  glaring.  We  have,  by  an  early  asso- 
ciation of  ideas,  been  so  habituated  to  condemn  every 
thing  that  is  Roman  in  religion,  that  we  are  not  easily 
open  to  conviction  on  this  subject.  It  should,  how- 
ever, be  remembered,  that  not  the  least  revenue  could 
accrue  to  Gregory  from  the  conversion  of  Britain; 
nor  did  he  suggest  or  intimate  any  lucrative  plan, 
directly  or  indirectly.  If  there  were  any  improper 
steps  taken,  they  must  not  be  charged  to  a  selfish  or 
interested  spirit,  such  as  that  which  has  since  anima- 
ted the  papacy.  The  doctrines  avowedly  and  earnestly 
taught  by  Gregory  and  his  followers  were  the  doc- 
trines of  grace;  and  though  no  account  of  the  faith 
of  the  Welsh  monks  is  given  us,  there  is  great  reason, 
on  account  of  the  pelagian  leaven  of  our  island,  to 
fear  it  was  not  so  truly  christian  as  that  of  Gregory. 
That  they  were  uncharitable,  appears  incontestable 
from  their  neglect  of  the  Saxon  pagans,  and  their  ob- 
stinate refusal  to  hearken  to  any  advice  on  that  head. 
And  the  reader  has  already  had  a  view  of  their  man- 
ners, very  different  from  the  flattering  account  of  Gal- 
fridus.  The  extent,  however,  of  the  British  church, 
before  the  arrival  of  Augustine,  was  so  inconsiderable, 
that  when  Gregory  planned  the  hierarchy  for  this 
island;  it  is  probable  he  knew  little  of  the  very  exis- 
tence of  such  a  church.  The  fault  of  ambitious  en- 
croachment must,  therefore,  be  laid  to  Augustine. 
Seduced  he  undoubtedly  was,  according  to  the  com- 
mon  superstition  of  the  age,  by  an  excessive  zeal  for 
uniformity.  And  that  admirable  method  of  uniting 
zeal  for  establishments  with  a  spirit  of  toleration, 
which  was  discovered  toward  the  close  of  the  last 
century,  was  as  yet  unknown.  The  Britons  had  been 
independent,  and  they  had  a  right  to  continue  so ;  but 
I  believe,  from  all  appearances,  that  Augustine  wished 

*  Bower's  Lives  of  Popes,  vol.  ii.  Gregory. 


^     91 

them  to  form  a  connexion  with  the  Romans  from  cha- 
ritable views. 

What  could  be  the  meaning  of  his  wishing  the 
Britons  to  baptize  after  the  Roman  manner?  This 
question  has  exercised  the  critical  talents  of  authors. 
After  all,  as  baptism  by  trinal  immersion  was  then  the 
Roman  mode,  this  seems  to  give  the  most  natural  ac. 
count  of  the  circumstance. 

The  charge  of  Galfridus,  in  accusing  the  Romans 
of  employing  the  pagans  to  murder  the  British,  is  too 
absurd  to  merit  any  serious  notice.  Augustine  died 
long  before  it  ha])pened.  Gregory  himself  was  deceas- 
ed before  the  controversies  between  Augustine  and 
Dinoth  took  place.  He  has  been  accused  of  extreme 
inconsistency,  in  being  imperious  toward  heretics, 
and  indulgent  toward  pagans*  and  Jews.  But  a  more 
exact  acquaintance  with  cases  would  enable  men  to 
form  a  better  judgment.  Gregory,  like  all  real  good 
men,  was  averse  to  use  violent  methods  in  proselyting; 
he  knew  that  conversion,  if  sincere,  must  be  volun- 
tary. But  when  men  once  have  been  received  into  the 
christian  pale,  the  same  zeal,  which  laboured  for  their 
conversion,  is  studious  for  their  uniform  attachment 
to  christian  fundamentals.  It  was  no  breach  of  charity 
in  Gregory  to  attempt  to  hinder  the  promotion  of  a 
donatist  in  the  christian  church  in  Africa;  and  such  an 
attempt  was  very  consistent  with  that  charity  which 
forbade  the  persecution  of  Jews. 

On  the  whole,  Gregory's  conduct  with  respect  to 
our  island  appears  one  of  the  most  shining  efforts  of 
christian  charity.  His  missionaries,  in  general,  acted 
laudably;  and  the  real  establishment  of  Christianity 
was,  under  God,  effected  by  their  means.  There  was 
a  stain  of  rivalry  and  jealousy,  as  we  have  seen,  which 
appeared  in  their  conduct;  but  they  were  men. 

*  JBower. 


92 

CHAP.  VIII. 

The  Works  of  Gregory, 

1  HIS  great  prelate,  worn  out  at  length  with  labours 
and  diseases,  slept  in  Jesus  in  the  year  604,*  after  he 
had  enjoyed,  shall  I  say — or  endured  his  bishopric 
thirteen  years  and  six  months?  No  man  in  any  age 
ever  gave  himself  up  more  sincerely  to  the  service  of 
God,  and  the  benefit  of  his  fellow  creatures.  Power 
in  him  was  a  voluntary  servitude,  undertaken  not  for 
himself,  but  for  all  the  world.  Even  the  growth  of 
superstition,  with  which  he  was  strongly  infected, 
while  it  secured  to  him  the  cheerful  obedience  of  the 
laity,  contributed  nothing  to  his  ease  or  secular  emo- 
lument. The  belief  of  the  Roman  bishop's  succession 
to  Peter,  which  he  found  to  be  prevalent  in  Europe, 
was  accidentally  strengthened  by  his  eminent  piety 
and  his  laborious  virtues.  Had  he  even  been  disposed 
to  have  extended  his  authority  to  much  greater  lengths, 
all  the  world  would  have  been  prone  to  submit  to  his 
decrees;  so  firmly  was  the  opinion  of  his  integrity  es- 
tablished among  men.  His  conscience,  however,  would 
not  suffer  him  to  carry  any  thing  farther  than  prece- 
dents had  sanctioned;  and  who,  especially  in  an  age  of 
superstitious  credulity,  could  doubt  the  justice  of  his 
pretensions,  while  the  preeminence  was  so  painful,  so 
disinterested,  and  so  beneficially  exerted? 

For  I  cannot  persuade  myself  to  call  him  pope.  He 
pretended  not  to  any  thing  like  infallibility,  nor  did 
he  ever  attempt  any  thing  like  a  secular  domination. 
The  seeds  of  antichrist  were  vigorously  shooting  in- 
deed; and  the  reputation  of  Gregory  doubtless  contri- 
buted much  to  mature  the  poisonous  plant.  But  ido- 
latry, spiritual  tyranny,  and  the  doctrine  of  the  merit 
of  works,  the  three  discriminating  marks  of  the  pa- 

*  Flciiry,  vol-  iv.  b.  xxxvi.  51. 


93 

pacy,  had,  as  yet,  no  settled  establishment  at  Rome. 
Had  this  man  lived  in  our  age,  he  would  doubtless 
have  beheld  with  astonishment,  on  the  one  hand  the 
worldly  spirit  of  many  christian  pastors  so  called,  and 
on  the  other  the  impiety  of  numerous  infidels  who  are 
continually  railing  against  the  religious.  His  mind, 
naturally  vigorous,  industrious,  and  active,  would 
doubtless  have  shaken  off  the  gloom  and  credulity  of 
superstition;  but  he  would  have  been  amazed  to  hear 
the  pompous  pretences  to  philosophy,  in  which  every 
juvenile  sciolist  indulges  himself.  He  would  have  ex- 
amined the  fruits,  and  have  been  at  a  loss  to  conceive 
with  what  propriety  the  term  philosopher  could  be 
applied  to  sceptics,  blasphemers,  atheists,  levellers, 
and  sensualists.  He  would,  as  a  bishop,  have  tried 
what  could  be  done  to  stem  the  torrent,  and  have  ex- 
erted in  the  way  of  discipline,  which  was  his  peculiar 
talent,  his  usual  address,  mildness  and  resolution.  He 
would  have  mourned  over  his  beloved  England,*  if 
he  had  seen  her  so  absurdly  enslaved  to  ideas  of  mis- 
taken liberty,  as  to  spurn  at  decent  rules  of  disci- 
pline, and  to  discountenance,  as,  tyranny,  godly  at- 
attempts  to  introduce  and  support  them.  He  would 
have  been  ready  to  say,  "  this  people  are  enemies 
to  their  own  good:"  he  would  have  pitied  them, 
wept,  and  consoled  himself  with  his  usual  refuge,  the 
views  of  a  better  world,  and  have  done  what  good  was 
still  in  his  power,  by  the  example  of  an  holy  life,  by 
painful  preaching,  and  by  pious  writings. 

Of  these  last  we  have  many  still  extant.  He  parti- 
cularly excelled  in  devotional  composition.  Litanies 
had  been  used  in  the  west  before  his  time,  in  cala- 
mitous seasons,  as  the  plague  or  famine.  These  were 
collected,  and  the  choicest  parts  selected  from  them, 
and  compiled,  through  the  care  of  Gregory,  into  one 

*  The  gratitude  of  Bede  has  (b.  ii.  c.  1.  Ecc.  Hist.)  led  him  to  apply  to 
Gregory  the  words  of  St.  Paul  in  regard  to  the  Corinthians.  As  an  En- 
glishman, who  felt  himself  much  obliged,  he  says,  the  seal  of  his  apostle- 
ship  are  we  in  the  Lord.  The  testimony  of  antiquity  to  Gregory's  benefi- 
cent piety  toward  this  island  is  uniform. 

Vol.  hi.  13 


y4 

large  litany,  not  much  different  from  that  iibcd  by  the 
church  of  England  at  this  day.  It  was  much  corrupted 
afterwards  in  the  popish  .times,  was  reformed  by  Her- 
mannus,  archbishop  of  Cologne,  in  the  days  of  Luther, 
and  afterwards  improved  by  our  reformers. 

But  the  church  of  England  is  not  only  indebted  to 
Gregory  for  the  litany.  In  his  sacramentary  he  em- 
bodied the  collects  of  the  ancient  church,  and  im- 
proved old,  or  made  new  ones.  Gelasius,  before  him, 
had  appointed  public  prayers  composed  by  himself 
or  others.  These  were  all  placed  in  the  offices  by 
Gregory.  And  by  a  comparison  of  our  book  of  Com- 
mon Prayer  with  his  sacramentary  it  is  evident,  that 
almost  all  the  collects  for  Sundays  and  the  principal 
festivals  in  the  church  of  England  were  taken  out  of 
the  latter.  To  me  it  appears  to  be  an  advantage,  that 
our  reformers  followed  antiquity  so  much  in  the  work. 
The  purification  of  the  ancient  services  from  the  cor- 
rupt and  idolatrous  mixtures  of  popery  was  as  strong 
an  indication  of  their  judgment  as  the  composition  of 
prayers  altogether  new  could  have  been,  which  how- 
ever they  scrupled  not  to  introduce  in  various  parts  of 
the  liturgy.  From  the  brief  account  I  have  given,*' 
it  appears,  that  the  service  of  the  church  is  far  more 
ancient  than  the  Roman  Missal,  properly  speaking. 
And  whoever  has  attended  to  the  superlative  simpli- 
city, fervor,  and  energy  of  the  prayers,  will  have  no 
hesitation  in  concluding,  that  they  must,  the  collects 
particularly,  have  been  composed  in  a  time  of  true 
evangelical  light  and  godliness.  It  is  impossible  in- 
deed to  say,  how  early  some  parts  of  the  liturgy  were 
written;  but  doubtless  they  are  of  verj^  high  antiquity. 
Many  persons,  in  dark  times,  and  under  the  disadvan- 
tage of  slothful  ignorant  pastors,  have  been  enlight- 
ened and  nourished  through  their  medium;  and  not  a 
few  I  trust  of  my  readers  can  justly  confess  with  me, 
how  much  their  devotion  has  been  assisted  by  the 
public   use  of  them.    Let  any  unprejudiced  person 

"  NichoUs  on  B.  of  Com.  Pray. 


95 

compare  with  the  liturgy  several  forms  of  prayer  com- 
posed in  modern  times,  and  he  will  find  an  unction  to 
attend  the  former,  of  which  the  latter  is  destitute.  The 
present  age  is  certainly  much  tinctured,  in  general, 
with  a  sceptical,  philosophic  spirit,  which  in  its  nature 
is  not  favourable  to  the  production  of  devotional  com- 
positions. 

The  historical  evidence  hence  resulting  of  the  reli- 
gious spirit  of  the  times  is  great.  The  western  church 
was  far  from  being  wholly  corrupt  in  the  close  of  the 
sixth  centurJ^*  The  doctrines  of  grace  revived  by 
Augustine  were  still  predominant:  divine  life-  was 
much  clogged  indeed  with  the  asthma  of  superstition; 
but  its  pulse  was  yet  vigorous.  I  close  this  digres- 
sion, if  it  may  be  called  one,  with  remarking,  that  the 
continued  use  of  these  liturgies  in  the  churches  of  the 
west,  demonstrates  the  concurrent  testimony  of  anti- 
quity, in  favour  of  evangelical  doctrine. 

Of  Gregory's  epistles  nothing  more  is  needful  to  be 
added  to  the  numerous  extracts  from  them,  which 
have  supplied  me  with  materials  for  his  history. 

His  exposition  of  the  book  of  Job  is  very  volumi- 
nous. In  a  letter  to  Leander  prefixed  to  it,  he  speaks 
of  the  tripartite  sense,  according  to  the  ideas  of  Au- 
gustine, with  sufficient  justness  and  accuracy;  yet 
through  fondness  for  system  he  carries  his  point  too 
far,  so  as  to  destroy  sometimes  the  literal  sense,  after 
the  vicious  mode  of  Origen.  We  may  believe  him, 
when  he  describes  the  coiTcspondence  of  the  subject 
to  his  own  bodily  afflictions;  and  he  frankly  owns  his 
neglect  of  language  and  style.  Few  readers  will  be 
tempted  to  search  the  work  throughout,  on  account 
of  the  heaviness  of  his  manner,  and  the  total  want  of 
elegance.  Yet  piety  and  humility  are  every  where 
predominant;  and  though  it  can  by  no  means  be  cal- 
led a  just  commentary  on  the  book  of  Job,  he  in  gene- 
ral avoids  deviations.ifrom  the  analogy  of  faith,  by  the 

*  That  beautiful  and  sublime  ode,  called  Te  Deum,  ascribed,  though 
not  with  certainty,  lo  Ambrose,  Wiis  incontestably  used  in  the  chuixh, 
before  the  middle  of  the  sixth  centur\ . 


V6 

evangelical  purity  of  his  frame  and  temper,  and  he 
had,  I  doubt  not,  real  communion  with  God  in  the 
work.  Let  us  hear  his  humble  confession  at  the  close- 
it  deserves  the  serious  notice  of  authors,  and  in 
that  most  salutary  science  of  selfknowledge  demon- 
strates a  proficiency  worthy  of  a  follower  of  Augus- 
tine. 

"  Having  finished  my  work,  I  see  I  must  return  to 
myself.  The  human  mind  is  frequently  bewildered, 
even  when  it  attempts  to  speak  correctly.  For  while 
we  study  propriety  of  language  we  are  drawn  out  of 
ourselves,  and  are  apt  to  lose  simplicity.  From  speak- 
ing in  public  let  me  return  to  the  court  of  the  heart; 
let  me  call  my  thoughts  to  a  serious  consultation  with 
a  view  to  discern  mj^self,  that  I  may  observe  whether 
I  have  spoken  evil  inadvertently,  or  good  in  a  wrong 
spirit.  For  then  only  is  real  good  spoken  in  a  right 
spirit,  when  we  mean  by  it  to  please  Him  alone,  from 
whom  we  receive  it.  I  am  not  conscious  of  having 
said  evil;  yet  I  will  not  maintain  that  I  am  absolutely 
innocent  in  this  respect.  The  good  which  I  have  spo- 
ken I  have  received  from  above,  and  it  is  less  good, 
through  my  sinfulness.  For,  averting  my  contempla^ 
tion  from  words  and  sentences,  the  leaves  and  branches, 
and  narrowly  inspecting  the  root  of  my  intention,  I 
know  that  I  meant  earnestly  to  please  God:  but  the 
desire  of  human  praise  insensibly  mixes  with  this 
intention.  I  discover  this  slowly  and  afterwards,  and 
find  that  the  execution  corresponds  not  with  the  first 
intention.  While  we  really  mean  to  please  God  at  first, 
the  love  of  human  praise  steals  into  the  mind,  and 
overtakes  and  accompanies  the  pure  design;  as  in  eat- 
ing, what  was  begun  through  necessity  and  in  inno- 
cence, terminates  too  often  in  excess.  If  we  are  strict- 
ly examined  by  the  divine  Judge,  how  can  we  escape? 
Our  evils  are  our  own  without  mixture,  and  our  good 
things  are  defiled  with  impurity.  What  I  feel  within, 
I  lay  open  to  my  reader.  In  expounding  I  have  not 
concealed  what  I  think;  in  confessing  I  hide  not  what  I 
suffer.  I  beg  every  reader  to  pray  for  me.  If  the  value 


97 

of  his  prayers  and  of  my  ex,position  be  compared,  ht 
will  have  the  advantage.  He  receives  from  me  only 
words;  but  repays  me  with  tears  of  supplication." 

His  Pastoral  Care  is  a  monument  of  the  author's  in- 
tense seriousness.  I  have  already  observed  in  man) 
christian  pastors,  and  in  Gregory  as  eminently  as  in 
most,  a  very  strong  sense  of  the  importance  of  the 
clerical  office,  which  rebukes  the  presumption  of  mo- 
derns more  keenly  than  any  words  of  mine  can  do. 
With  the  ancients  scarce  any  person,  however  quali- 
fied, seemed  adequate  to  the  cure  of  souls;  with  us 
every  stripling  undertakes  it  without  fear  or  hesita- 
tion. The  treatise  itself  deserves  to  be  read  through- 
out by  every  candidate  for  the  pastoral  office.  I  know 
not  how  to  select  any  parts  of  it  particularly,  and  its 
brevity  forbids  and  discourages  all  attempts  at  abridg- 
ment.* 

The  exposition  on  the  Canticles  is  worthy  of  the 
godly  spirit  of  Gregory.  I  shall  hazard  a  quotation  or 
two,  which  I  doubt  not  will  meet  the  sensations  of 
minds  acquainted  spiritually  with  Jesus  Christ,  how- 
ever the  profane  may  ridicule,  and  the  phlegmatic 
may  censure.  It  is  worth  while  to  show,  that  a  spirit 
of  union  with  Christ  has  ever  been  felt  in  his  church. 

On  the  first  verse  of  the  Canticles  he  says,  "  Let 
him  whom  I  love  above  all,  nay  alone,  let  him  come 
to  me,  that  he  may  touch  me  with  the  sweetness  of 
his  inspiration.  For  when  I  feel  his  influence,  I  leave 
myself  by  a  sudden  change,  and  being  melted  am 
transformed  into  his  likeness.  The  holy  mind  is  disgust- 
ed with  all  things  which  it  feels  from  the  body,  and  de- 
sires to  become  altogether  spiritual;  and  while  sensual 
objects  murmur  around,  it  flies  into  spiritual  things, 
and  desires  to  hide  itself  in  them.  Therefore  it  desires 


*  Should  the  young  candidate  for  the  minlstty  object,  as  he  justly  may, 
the  difficulty  of  meeting  with  this  work  of  Gregory,  let  him  substitute  in 
its  place  bishop  Burnet's  treatise  on  the  same  subject.  It  is  to  be  lamented, 
that  so  valuable  a  book  is  so  little  read  and  known,  and  that  while  the  pub- 
lic taste  has  called  for  repeated  editions  of  inflammatory  politics,  this 
treasure  of  pastoral  information  is  dwindled  into  an  oblivion  little  short  of 
contempt. 


98- 

the  loving  kindness  of  the  Lord,  becanse  without  it, 
it  feels  no  power  to  approach  him. " 

On  the  words,  "draw  me,  we  will  run  after  thee," 
he  observes,  "  divine  grace  prevents  us.  He,  who  is 
drawn,  runs,  because  being  strengthened  by  divine 
love,  he  passes  over  all  obstacles." 

The  defective  taste  and  learning  of  his  age  forbid 
us  to  expect  any  very  accurate  and  solid  exposition  of 
so  difficult  a  prophet  as  Ezekiel.*  It  is,  in  fact,  in  oc- 
casional passages,  independent  of  system,  that  Grego- 
ry shines.  I  single  out  a  passage  as  an  instance  of  this. 
■'  Generally  those  who  most  excel  in  divine  contem- 
plation, are  most  oppressed  with  temptation.  By  the 
first  the  soul  is  lifted  up  to  God,  by  the  second  it  is 
pressed  downi  into  itself.  Were  it  not  for  this,  the  mind 
would  fall  into  pride.  There  is  by  the  divine  disposi- 
tion, a  wonderful  temperature  in  this  subject,  that  the 
saint  may  neither  rise  too  high,  nor  sink  too  low." 

Observe  how  divinely  he  speaks  concerning  the 
teaching  of  the  holy  Spirit,  in  one  of  his  homilies  on 
the  gospels.  On  the  words  in  St.  John's  gospel,  he 
(the  Spirit)  shall  teach  you  all  things,  he  says,  "unless 
the  Spirit  be  with  the  heart  of  the  hearer,  the  word  of 
the  teacher  is  barren.  Let  no  man  attribute  to  the 
teacher  what  he  understands  from  his  mouth;  for,  un- 
less there  be  an  internal  teacher,  the  tongue  of  the 
external  one  labours  in  vain.  Why  is  there  such  a  dif- 
ference in  the  sensations  of  hearers,  all  hearing  the 
same  words?  It  is  to  be  ascribed  to  this  special  teach- 
ing. John  himself  in  his  epistle  teaches  the  same,  'the 
anointing  teaches  you  of  all  things.'  "f  It  is  plain  that 
the  Spirit  of  the  Lord  was  not  departed,  as  yet,  from 
the  Roman  church,  while  his  internal  instructions, 
despised  so  fearlessly  by  the  profane,  and  scrutinized 
so  malignantly  by  many  orthodox  professors  in  our 
days,  were  regarded  with  so  much  simplicity  and  re- 
verence. 

His  dialogues,  if  indeed  they  be  his,  or  be  not 

'  Tom.  ii.  Homil.  on  Ezek.  xiv.  f  Tom.ii.p.  451 


99 

much  interpolated,  dishonour  his  memory  by  the  ex^ 
eess  of  superstition. 

Thus  far  of  the  first  of  the  Gregories;  it  will  not 
be  saying  enough  in  his  praise,  though  it  be  a  truths 
that  it  would  have  been  to  the  advantage  of  the  repu- 
tation of  the  Roman  church,  if  he  had  been  the  last  of 
that  name. 


CHAP.  IX. 

Writers  of  this  Century. 

Jb  ULGENTIUS  adorned  the  beginning,  and  Gre- 
gory the  close  of  this  century,  which  produced  no 
other  authors  of  equal  merit.  And  the  decay  in  learn- 
ing  and  knowledge  was  so  great,  that  I  shall  detain 
the  reader  a  very  little  time  on  this  article. 

Ennodius,  bishop  of  Pavia,  wrote  against  those, 
who  affirmed,  that  man  could  only  choose  evil.  With 
gross  ignorance  of  the  connexion  and  scope  of  St. 
Paul's  argument,  he  quotes  his  words  in  the  epistle 
to  the  Romans,  c.  vii.  as  favourable  to  his  views. 
"  For  to  will  is  present  with  me,  but  how  to  perform 
that  which  is  good  I  find  not;"  thus  ascribing  to  man 
as  such,  what  the  apostle  evidently  speaks  of  as  de- 
scriptive of  the  regenerate.  He  maintains  that  man  by 
nature  has  power  to  turn  himself  to  God,  and  deduces 
from  the  contrary  doctrine  the  consequences  which 
the  advocates  for  the  doctrine  of  freewill  in  all  ages 
have  done  from  the  days  of  Cicero,  who,  it  is  remarka- 
ble, reasons  exactly  in  the  same  manner. 

On  the  other  hand,  John  Maxentius,  a  Scythian 
monk,  in  company  with  a  number  of  monks,  his 
brethren,  strenuously  defended  the  doctrines  of  grace. 
In  a  confession  of  their  faith  is  this  sentence:  "  that 
freewill,  since  the  entrance  of  sin,  has  of  itself  no 
other  power  but  that  of'choosing  some  carnal  good 


100 

and  pleasure,*  and  that  it  can  neither  desire  nor  will, 
nor  do  any  thing  for  eternal  life,  but  by  the  operation 
of  the  holy  Spirit." 

So  remarkable  a  confession  would  seem  to  show 
some  distinct  knowledge  of  the  depravity  of  the  heart. 
Maxentius  and  his  brethren  were  ill  treated  by  Hor- 
misdas,  bishop  of  Rome,  a  bold  and  dexterous  politi- 
cian, of  whose  theological  knowledge  and  practical 
piety  I  find  no  proofs.  He  accused  them  of  turbulence 
and  selfconceit,  and  after  a  year's  attendance  at  Rome 
they  were  expelled  thence  by  his  order.  I  cannot  find 
that  Hormisdas  gave  any  decided  opinion  on  the  sub- 
ject himself;  probably  he  had  never  studied  it;  but  he 
acted  imperiously  and  decisively.  Maxentius  wrote 
with  vigor  in  defence  of  the  doctrines  of  grace;  and  I 
wish  I  could  gratify  the  reader  with  a  larger  account 
of  a  man,  who  was  counted  worthy  to  suffer  shame 
for  the  faith  of  Christ.  The  controversy  between  the 
defenders  of  grace  and  of  human  powers  was  still 
alive,  and  the  western  church  continued  still  divided 
upon  it. 

Facundus,  bishop  of  Hermiana  in  Africa,  will  de- 
serve to  be  mentioned  for  the  sake  of  one  sentence. 
"  The  faithful,  in  receiving  the  sacrament  of  the  body 
and  blood  of  Jesus  Christ,  receive  his  body  and  his 
blood;  not  that  the  bread  is  properly  his  body,  and 
the  cup  his  blood;  but  because  they  contain  in  them 
the  mystery  of  the  body  and  blood  of  Jesus  Christ."t 
Though  it  makes  no  part  of  our  system  to  confute  the 
particular  points  of  popery,  I  could  not  omit  so  clear 
a  testimony  against  transubstantiation. 

The  western  church  is  indebted  for  historical  infor- 
mation to  Gregory  of  Tours,  the  eastern  to  Evagrius. 
It  must  be  confessed  that  they  are  inelegant  and  inju- 
dicious writers:  they  had  the  literary  taste  of  this 
century. 

The  truly  evangelical  second  council  of  Orange  has 
been  already  reviewed.  The  second  council  of  Mascon 

•  Du  Pin.  Cent.  6th.  f  Da  Pin  Facundus. 


101 

held  in  585,  will  deserve  to  be  mentioned.^  They  were 
very  zealous  for  the  observation  of  Sunday.  Let  none 
follow  any  business  on  this  day,  say  they:  let  none  yoke 
oxen,  or  prosecute  suits  of  law;  but  let  all  the  world  ap- 
ply themselves  to  sing  the  praises  of  God.  They  de- 
cree penalties  against  sabbathbreakers.  An  advocate, 
who  was  guilty  of  the  crime,  was  to  be  driven  from  the 
bar;  a  peasant  or  a  slave  to  receive  some  stripes.  They 
exhort  christians  also  to  spend  the  evening  of  Sunday 
in  prayers.  They  forbid  bishops  to  keep  birds  and 
dogs  for  game.  They  ordain  the  celebration  of  a  synod 
every  three  years  in  a  place  appointed  by  the  bishop 
of  Lyons  and  king  Gontranus.  A  proof  may  be  drawn 
from  hence  that  some  spirit  of  genuine  religion  was 
still  preserved  in  France. 


Vol.  Ilf.  14. 


CENTURY  VII. 

CHAP.  I. 

The  English  Church. 

1  HE  diversity  of  circumstances  in  different  ages  of 
the  church  constantly  admonishes  an  historian,  who 
loves  method  and  perspicuity,  to  vary  the  arrangement 
of  his  materials.  No  abstract  rules,  but  the  circum- 
stances of  each  period  should  direct  him  in  this  mat- 
ter. In  the  century  before  us,  barren  and  unpromising 
as  it  is  for  the  most  part,  Great  Britain  shone  with  dis- 
tinguished lustre.  As  she  was  a  world  within  herself, 
her  ecclesiastical  affairs  were  little  connected  with 
those  of  the  continent.  Hence  the  propriety  of  review- 
ing them  by  themselves.  In  this  subject  I  shall  closely 
follow  the  venerable  Bede,  whose  narration  extends  to 
the  year  731.  Though  much  of  his  history  be  fabu- 
lous and  superstitious,  it  is  still  of  the  greatest  value, 
because  it  is  the  only  light  which  we  have  concerning 
the  progress  of  the  gospel  in  our  own  country  for  seve- 
ral generations:  and  some  ra3^s  of  truth,  piety,  and  good 
sense  now  and  then  break  out  in  the  historian  amidst 
the  clouds  of  legendary  romance. 

After  the  death  of  Augustine,  the  first  archbishop 
of  Canterbury,  Laurentius,  whom  he  had  ordained, 
succeeded  to  that  see.  He  trode*  in  the  steps  of  his 
predecessor,  and  laboured  to  promote  the  best  inte- 
rests of  the  English  by  frequent  preaching  of  the  word 
and  by  a  diligent  and  useful  example.  -  doubt  not  the 
sincerity  of  this  prelate;  though  seduced  by  the  charms 
of  a  nominal  unity,  he  laboured,  as  the  first  mi.s<i,ionary 
Augustine  had  done,  to  bring  the  British  churches  to  a 

*  Bede,  b.ii.  c,  4. 


103 

conformity  with  the  church  of  Rome.  He  was  actu*- 
ated  b}'  the  san^e  subtle  spirit  of  selfish  ambition,  of 
which  even  the  best  men  in  all  ages  have  not  been  void; 
it  operates  imperceptibly,  through  the  native  energy 
of  ii 'dwelling  sin.  The  papist,  the  national  churchman, 
and  the  sectary,  are  each  liable  to  its  influence,  though 
in  truly  regenerate  spirits  there  is  likewise  a  diviner 
principle;  and  sordid  views  of  secular  gain  are  intirely 
excluded.  In  this  manner  I  would  appreciate  the  cha- 
racters of  the  Romish  missionaries  in  England.  Their 
disinterested  labours,  just  views  of  christian  doccrine, 
and  hoiy  and  unblemished  lives  ought  to  have  exemp- 
ted  them  from  the  intempenite  censures  of  writers, 
who  seem  to  think  an  indiscriminate  aversion  to  the 
church  of  Rome  to  be  one  of  the  principal  excellen- 
cies of  a  protestant  historian.* 

Luurentius,  in  conjunction  vvith  Mellitus,  bishop  of 
London,  and  Justus,  bishop  of  Rochester,  endeavoured 
to  reduce  the  "  Scots,  who  inhabited  Ireland"t  to  a 
conformity  with  the  English  church.  The  three  pre- 
lates wrote  to  them  with  this  view,  and  declared  them- 
selves to  be  sent  by  the  Roman  see  to  propagate  the 
gos|>el  among  the  pagan  nations.  Lauientius  com- 
plained of  the  bigotry  of  a  certain  Irish  bishop,  who, 
coming  to  Canterbury,  refused  to  eat  at  the  same  table, 
or  even  in  the  same  house  with  him.  The  archbishop 
could  not  prevail  either  with  the  Britons  or  with  the 
Irish  to  enter  into  his  views.  "  Even  the  present  times, 
says  our  author,  declare  how  little  success  he  had.*' 
At  the  period  in  which  Bede  concludes  his  history, 
the  greatest  part  of  the  British  churches  remained  still 
distinguished  from  the  English.  The  bishops  of  Rome 
continued  to  superintend  the  latter;  and  while  Ethel- 
bert  lived,  the  gospel  flourished.  This  prince  died 

*  I  advert,  particularly  to  Bow  er's  Lives  of  the  Popes,  and  to  Warner's 
Ecclesiastical  History  of  our  own  country  Their  laborious  colled  ion  of 
facts  deserves  commendation.  I  avail  myself  of  all  the  helps,  whicli  offer, 
for  the  supply  of  materials. — But,  I  mean  to  extol  the  church  of  Christ, 
wherever  I  can  find  her,  nor  does  a  Roman  dress,  when  she  appears  in 
it,  convey  any  prejudice  to  my  mind. 

t  Bedc's  own  words,  which  demonstrate  that  the  Irish  were  anciently 
called  Scots 


104 

after  a  reign  of  56  years,  twenty-one  years  after  he 
had  embraced  Christianity,  and  was  buried  by  the  side 
of  his  deceased  queen  Bertha.  Among  other  benefits 
which  the  English  derived  from  him,  there  was  a  code 
of  laws  formed  after  the  example  of  the  Romans,* 
which  was  still  extant  in  Bede's  time,  and  was  parti- 
cularly calculated  to  protect  the  persons  and  property 
of  the  church. 

His  son  and  successor  Eadbald  not  only  despised 
Christianity,  but  also  lived  in  incest  with  his  father's 
wife.  Whence  all,  who  had  embraced  the  gospel 
through  motives  purely  secular,  were  induced  to  re- 
lapse into  idolatry.  Sabereth,  king  of  the  East  Saxons, 
who  had  followed  the  example  of  Ethelbert  who  was 
his  uncle,  being  deceased,  his  three  sons  became  joint 
heirs  of  his  kingdom.  Immediately  they  resumed  the 
idolatry,  which  they  had  intermitted  a  little  in  their 
father's  lifetime,  and  encouraged  their  subjects  to  do 
the  same.  These  princes  observing  the  bishop  of  Lon- 
don to  distribute  the  bread  of  the  eucharist  in  the 
church,  asked  why  he  did  not  give  them  the  bread, 
which  he  had  usually  given  to  their  father,  and  which 
he  distributed  at  that  time  to  the  people.  "  If  you 
will  be  washed,  replied  Mellitus,  in  the  same  laver  of 
regeneration  in  which  your  father  was,  you  may  par- 
take of  the  same  sacred  bread :  but,  if  ye  despise  the 
laver  of  life,  ye  cannot  partake  of  the  bread  of  life." 
We  will  not,  said  they,  enter  into  that  fountain;  we 
do  not  know  that  we  need  it,  yet  we  choose  to  eat  of 
that  bread.  In  vain  did  the  upright  pastor  seriously 
and  diligently  admonish  them,  that  it  was  not  possible 
for  any  person  remaining  uncleansed  from  sin  to  par- 
take of  the  communion:  in  a  rage  they  declared,  "  if 
you  will  not  gratify  us  in  so  small  a  matter,  y©u  shall 
not  remain  in  our  province."  They  thereupon  order- 
ed him  to  be  gone  with  his  associates. 

Mellitus,  thus  expelled,  came  into  Kent  to  consult 
with  Laurentius  and  Justus.  The  three  bishops  agreed 

*  Bede,  id.  c.  5. 


105 

to  leave  the  country,  that  they  might  serve  God  with 
freedom  elsewhere,  rather  than  remain  among  enemies 
without  fruit.  Mellitus  and  Justus  retired  first  into 
France,  waiting  the  issue.  The  three  princes  not  long 
after  were  slain  in  battle,  but  their  subjects  remained 
still  incorrigible. 

Laurentius,  intending  to  follow  the  two  bishops,  em- 
ployed himself  in  prayer  in  the  church  during  the  silent 
hours  of  the  night,  with  much  agony  and  many  tears, 
entreating  God  to  look  upon  the  state  of  the  English 
church,  which,  after  such  promising  beginnings,  seem- 
ed now  on  the  eve  of  a  total  dissolution.  Next  morn- 
ing he  paid  a  visit  to  the  king,  who  struck  at  last  with 
horror  for  his  crimes,  and  relenting,  when  he  appeared 
in  imminent  danger  of  losing  his  christian  instructors 
for  ever,  forbade  his  departure,  reformed  his  own  life 
and  manners,  was  baptized,  and  from  that  time  became 
a  zealous  supporter  of  the  faith.* 

Eadbald  was  determined  to  show  the  sincerity  of  his 
zeal.  He  recalled  Mellitus  and  Justus  from  France, 
after  a  year's  exile.  Justus  was  reinstated  in  Roches- 
ter; but  Mellitus  could  not  recover  his  see.  The  Lon- 
doners preferred  idolatry,  and  Eadbald  had  not  the 
same  power,  which  his  father  had  possessed  in  that 
city,  to  oblige  them  to  receive  him.  So  far,  however, 
as  his  influence  extended,  he  exerted  it  for  the  cause 
of  Christ,  and,  from  the  time  of  his  conversion,  adorn- 
ed the  gospel  and  propagated  it  among  his  people. 

Laurentius  being  deceased,  Mellitus  was  appointed 

*  Bede,  c.  6.  ' 

I  was  unwilling  to  introduce  into  the  narrative  the  story  of  St.  Peter's 
whippin^c  of  Laurentius  that  night  in  tlie  church  and  reproving  of  him  for 
his  cowardice;  whence  he  was  said  to  have  been  induced  to  wait  upon 
Eadbald  next  morning  who  was  struck,  it  seems,  with  remorse  at  the  sight 
of  the  stripes  which  ihe  bishop  had  received.  Stories  of  this  sort  were 
innumerable  in  those  times.  The  steady  perseverance  of  Eadbald,  and  the 
intire  change  both  of  his  private  and  public  conduct  denumstrate  the 
reality  of  his  conversion.  He  most  probably  retained  an  internal  reverence 
for  the  religion  in  which  he  had  been  instructed  in  his  childhood,  against 
which  his  grand  objection  seems  to  have  been  the  love  of  a  dissolute  life. 
The  Lord  honoured  the  prayers  of  Laurentius  with  success,  and  recover- 
ed the  English  church,  at  the  last  extremity.  The  substance  of  the  nar- 
rative remains  intire,  abstracted  from  the  legend  which  disgraces  it. 


w 


10$ 

the  third  archbishop  of  Canterbury,  while  Justus  still 
presided  at  Rochester.  These  two  bishops  governed 
the  English  church  with  much  care  and  labour.*  Mel- 
litus,  after  having  given  the  most  undoubted  proofs  of 
genuine  piety,  and  presided  over  the  diocese  of  Can- 
terbury five  years,  died  in  the  year  624,  and  was  suc- 
ceeded by  Justus. 

England  was  still  governed  by  the  Saxon  Heptar- 
chy. Seven  kingdoms,  often  at  war  with  one  another, 
and  also  with  the  old  native  Britons,  exhibited  in  our 
island  scenes  of  the  most  unpleasant  nature.  Nor  is 
any  portion  of  our  history  in  a  secular  view  less  in- 
teresting. Nevertheless  in  this  dull  period  it  pleased 
God  to  show  the  power  of  his  grace  among  our  ances- 
tors. Hitherto  Kent  almost  alone  had  been  illuminat- 
ed. But  the  gospel  was  now  introduced  into  the  north, 
where  reigned  Edwin,  king  of  the  Northumbrians. 
And  a  woman  was  once  more  honoured  as  the  instru- 
ment of  salvation  to  a  king  her  husband,  and  to  many 
of  his  subjects.  Edwin  had  sent  to  Eadbald  to  desire 
his  sister  Ethelburg  or  Tatef  in  marriage.  The  Ken- 
tish prince  with  that  christian  sincerity,  which  had 
ever  distinguished  him  since  his  conversion,  answer- 
ed, that  it  was  not  lawful  to  marry  his  sister  to  an  in- 
fidel. Edwin  replied,  that  he  would  certainly  grant 
free  liberty  of  conscience  to  the  princess  and  to  her 
attendants,  adding  that  he  himself  would  receive  the 
same  religion,  if  it  appeart-d  more  worthy  of  God. 
Upon  this  Eadbald  consented,  and  sent  his  sister  into 
Northumberland, J  attended  by  Paulinus,  who  was 
consecrated  bishop  of  the  north  of  England  by  Justus 
in  the  year  625.  The  reason  of  sending  him  was,  that 
by  daily  exhortations  and  administration  of  the  com- 
munion he  might  guard  the  young  princess  and  her 
attendants  from  the  infection  of  idolatry.  But  Provi- 
dence had  a  higher  and  more  extensive  aim,  and  in- 

*  Bede,  c.  7-  f  Bede,  c.  9. 

I  This  term  meant  in  those  times  all  that  part  of  England,  which  Ues  to 
the  north  of  the  Humber. 


107 

fused  into  the  heart  of  Paulinus*  a  strong  desire  to 
propagate  the  gospel  in  these  regions.  He  laboured 
much  both  to  preserve  Ethelburg  and  her  attendants 
in  christian  simplicity,  and  to  draw  over  some  of  the 
pagans  to  the  faith.  But  though  he  preached  a  long- 
time, "  still  (it  is  Bede's  quotation)  the  god  of  this 
world  blinded  the  minds  of  unbelievers."  After  some 
time  Edwin  was  very  near  being  murdered  by  an  as- 
sassin whom  the  king  of  the  West  Saxons  sent  against 
him,  and  the  same  night  his  queen  was  delivered  of  a 
daughter.  While  the  king  was  thanking  his  gods  for 
the  biith  of  a  daughter,  Paulinus  began  to  give  thanks 
to  the  Lord  Christ.  Edwin  told  him,  that  he  himself 
would  worship  Christ  and  renounce  all  his  gods,  if  he 
would  give  him  victory  over  the  king  of  the  West 
Saxons,  who  had  attempted  to  murder  him,  and,  for 
the  present,  he  gave  the  young  infant  to  Paulinus  to  be 
baptized.  She  was  the  first  Northumbrian  who  was 
admitted  into  the  visible  church  by  the  ordinance  of 
baptism;  and  twelve  of  the  king's  family  were  baptized 
on  that  occasion.  EdVvin  collecting  his  forces  van- 
quished the  West  Saxons,  and  killed  or  reduced  into 
subjection  all  who  had  conspired  against  him.  Return- 
ing victorious,  he  determined  no  longer  to  serve  idols. 
He  was,  however,  in  no  hurry  to  be  baptized,  but  re- 
solved to  examine  seriously  the  grounds  and  reasons 
of  Christianity.  He  attended  Paulinus's  instructions, 
held  conferences  with  prudent  and  knowing  persons, 
and  was  himself  observed,  frequently  to  commune  with 
his  own  heart,  in  silence,  and  anxiously  to  inquire 
what  was  true  religion.  All  who  use  his  methods  will 
not  fail  to  know  the  truth. 

Edwin  was  doubtless  in  good  earnest,  and  at  length 
held  a  consultation  with  his  intimate  friends  and  coun- 
sellors. "  What  is,"  says  he,  "  this  hitherto  unheard 
of  doctrine,  this  new  worship?"  Coifi,  the  chief  of  the 
priests,  answered,  "  See  you,  O  king,  what  this  is, 
which  is  lately  preached  to  us?  I  declare  most  frankly 

*  He  was  one  of  the  monks  whom  Gregory  had  sent  into  England,  and 
possessed  much  of  the  pious  and  zealous  spirit  of  that  renown^  prelate. 


108 

what  I  have  found  to  be  true,  that  the  religion  we  have 
hitherto  foliovved  is  of  no  value.  If  the  gods  could  do 
any  thing,  they  would  more  particularly  distinguish 
me  with  their  favours,  who  have  served  them  so  dili- 
gently. If  the  new  doctrine  be  really  better,  let  us 
embrace  it."  Another  of  the  nobles,  observed,  that  he 
had  taken  notice  of  a  swallow,  which  had  rapidly  flown 
through  the  king's  house,  entering  by  one  door  and 
going  out  at  the  other.  This  happened,  he  said,  when 
the  king  was  sitting  at  supper  in  the  hall:  a  fire  burn- 
ing in  the  midst,  and  the  room  being  heated,  a  tem- 
pest of  rain  or  snow  raged  without:  the  poor  swallow 
felt  indeed  a  temporary  warmth,  and  then  escaped  out 
of  the  room.  "  Such,"  says  he,  "  is  the  life  of  man; 
but  what  goes  before,  or  comes  after,  is  buried  in 
profound  darkness.  Our  ignorance  then,  upon  such 
principles  as  hitherto  we  have  embraced,  is  confessed; 
but  if  this  new  doctrine  really  teach  us  any  thing  more 
certain,  it  will  deserve  to  be  followed."  These  and 
similar*  reflections  were  made  by  the  king's  coun- 
sellors. Coifi  expressed  also  a  desire  to  hear  Paulinus 
preach,  which,  by  the  king's  order,  was  complied 
with.  The  chief  priest,  having  heard  the  sermon,  ex- 
claimed, "  I  knew  formerly,  that  what  we  worshipped 
was  nothing;  because  the  more  studiously  I  sought  for 
truth,  the  less  I  found  it.  Now  I  openly  declare,  that 
in  this  preaching  appears  the  truth,  which  is  able  to 
aflford  us  life,  salvation,  and  eternal  bliss.  I  advise  that 
we  instantly  destroy  the  temples  and  altars,  which  we 
have  served  in  vain."  The  king  feeling  the  convic- 
tion with  no  less  strength,  openly  confessed  the  faith 
of  Christ,  and  asked  Coifi,  who  should  be  the  first 
man  that  should  profane  the  idolatrous  places.  "  I 
ought  to  do  it,"  replied  the  priest,  "  I,  who  worship- 
ped them  in  folly,  will  give  an  example  to  others  in 
destroying  them,  by  the  wisdom  given  me  from  the 
true  God.  He  immediately  went  to  the  temple  and 
profaned  it,  rejoicing  in  the  knowledge  of  the  Most 
High,  and  ordered  his  companions  to  burn  the  build- 

*  Id.  c.  13. 


109 

ing  with  its  inclosures.  The  place  was  still  shown  in 
our  author's  time,  not  far  from  York  to  the  east  of  the 
Derwent. 

In  the  eleventh  year  of  Edwin's  reign,  this  prince 
with  all  his  nobles  and  very  many  of  the  commonalty 
was  baptized,  180  years  after  the  arrival  of  the  Saxons 
in  Britain,  and  in  the  year  of  Christ  627.  This  was 
performed  at  York  in  a  wooden  oratory,  in  which 
Edwin  had  been  first  proposed  as  a  catechumen  for 
baptism.  By  the  advice  of  Paulinus  he  afterwards 
began  to  build  on  the  same  spot  a  church  of  stone, 
which  however  he  did  not  live  to  finish,  but  it  was 
completed  by  Oswald  his  successor.  Paulinus,  first 
bishop  of  York,  continued  for  six  years,  till  the  death 
of  Edwin,  to  preach  the  gospel;  and  as  many  as  were 
ordained  to  eternal  life  believed.*  Edwin's  children 
were  afterwards  baptized,  and  so  strong  was  the  de- 
sire of  his  subjects  for  Christianity,  that  Paulinus 
coming  with  the  king  and  queen  to  a  royal  villa,  cal- 
led Adregin,  spent  there  thirty-six  days  in  teaching 
and  baptizing,  from  morning  till  night.  At  another  time 
he  baptized,  in  the  river  Swale,t  which  flows  near 
Catterick,  a  number  of  persons  who  resorted  thither. 
Many  of  these  conversions  may  be  supposed  to  have 
been  the  result  of  mere  complaisance  to  the  court. 
But  there  is  every  reason  to  believe,  that  there  was  a 
real  effusion  of  the  Spirit  at  this  time.  And,  in  this 
age,  when  men  profess  much  to  think  for  themselves, 
it  will  not  be  easy  to  find  a  person  in  high  life  attend- 
ing with  so  cool  and  reasonable  a  spirit  to  the  nature 
and  evidences  of  true  religion,  as  Edwin  and  his 
nobles  did  at  a  time  which  we  call  extremely  barba- 
rous. They  thought  impartially,  and  they  had  the  in- 
dispensable qualification  of  being  serious  in  their 
researches. 

Edwin  induced  also  Carpwald,  king  of  the  East  An- 
gles, to  embrace  the  gospel.  Redwald,  the  father  of 

*  They  are  Bede's  words;  the  scrjjptural  reader  knows  w^^ncc  he  bor 
rowed  them.  Id.  14.  C.  •  *       > 

f  Sauha,  qui  vicum  juxta  Cataractam  prxterfluit  * 

Vol.  III.  15 


110 

this  prince,  had  been  baptized  in  Kent,  but  had  been 
seduced  by  his  wile  into  idolatry.  Carpwald  was  suc- 
ceeded by  his  brother  Sibert,  a  man  of  singular  zeal 
. ,  and  piet}",  whose  labours  for  the  spiritual  benefit  of 
*  his  subjects  were  much  assisted  by  Felix,  a  Burgun- 
dian  christian.  This  person  had  received  a  commission 
from  Honorius,  the  successor  of  Justus  at  Canterbury,  "^ 
to  preach  among  the  East  Angles,  which  he  did  with 
great  success,  and  lived  and  died  bishop  of  Dum- 
mock.* 

The  zealous  Paulin us  preached  also  in  Lincolnshire, 
the  first  province  south  of  the  Humber,t  where  the 
governor  of  Lincoln  J  with  his  house  was  converted  to 
God.  Bede  informs  us  that  a  friend  of  his  heard  an 
old  person  make  this  declaration,  "  I  was  baptized, 
together  with  a  multitude  of  others,  in  the  river  Chan- 
ta§  by  Pauiinus,  in  the  presence  of  Edwin."  Wonder- 
ful things  are  told  us  of  the  perfect  peace,  order,  and 
justice  which  prevailed  during  the  reign  of  the  wise 
and  pious  king  of  Northumberland. 

Attempts  were  made  all  this  time  by  the  bishops  of 
Rome  to  induce  the  Irish  to  unite  themselves  to  the 
English  church,  but  in   vain.    John,  the  bishop   of 
Rome,  wrote  letters  also  into  Ireland  against  the  pela 
gian  heresy,  which  was  reviving  there. 

Edwin,  after  having  six  years  served  the  cause  ol 
Christ,  was  slain  in  a  battle,  which  he  fought  with 
Carduella,  a  British  prince,  a  christian  by  profession, 
and  with  Penda,  king  of  the  Saxon  principality  of 
Mercia,  a  professed  pagan.  It  is  remarkable  that  the 
British  prince  used  his  victory  with  savage  barbarity; 
and  our  author  complains  that,  to  his  times,  the  Bri- 
tish christians  looked  on  the  English  only  as  pagans. 
Pauiinus  after  this  mournful  event  retired  with  Ed- 
win's queen  into  Kent,  whence  he  had  brought  her. 
'I'here  being  a  vacancy  at  Rochester,  he  was  by  Ead- 
bald,  who  still  reigned  in  Kent,  fixed  in  that  see, 
which  he  held  to  his  death.   His  deacon  James,  whom 

*  Now  Dunvvich  in  Suffolk.  f  Id.  16,  c. 

\  Liiulocorma.  §  Now  Trent.  ' 


Ill 

lie  had  left  in  Northumberland,  preserved  still  some 
remains  of  Christianity  in  a  province  now  overrun  by 
pagans.  Such  are  the  vicissitudes  of  the  church  in  this 
world:  her  perfect  rest  is  above. 

The  situation  of  the  north  was,  after  this,  deplorable. 
Cedwalla,  a  British  king,  tyrannized  with  the  fiercest 
barbarity  over  the  subjects  of  Edwin,  till  at  length 
Oswald,  his  nephew,  vanquished  and  slew  Cedwalla, 
and  established  himself  in  the  kingdom.  He  had,  in 
his  younger  days,  lived  an  exile  in  Ireland,  and  had 
there  been  baptized.  Desirous  of  evangelizing  his 
people  he  sent  for  a  pastor  out  of  Ireland,  who,  after 
he  had  made  some  fruitless  attempts,  returned  into 
his  own  country,  complaining  of  the  intractable  dis- 
position of  the  Northumbrians.  "  It  seems  to  me," 
said  Aidan,  a  monk,  who  was  present  at  his  com- 
plaints, "  that  your  austere  manners  and  conduct  to- 
ward them  was  unsuitable  to  their  state  of  extreme 
ignorance.  They  should  be  treated  like  infants  with 
milk,  till  they  become  capable  of  stronger  meat."  The 
cotisequence  was,  what  probably  Aidan  little  expected; 
he  Avas  himself  deputed  by  an  Irish  council  to  enter 
on  the  mission. 

The*  character  of  this  missionary  would  have  done 
honour  to  the  purest  times.  We  may  more  confidently 
depend  on  the  account  given  of  him,  because  he  be- 
longed not  to  the  Roman  communion,  to  which  Bede 
was  superstitiously  devoted,  but  was  a  schismatic  in 
the  observation  of  Easter,  as  all  the  christians  in  the 
British  isles  were,  except  the  Saxons.  To  him  Bede 
applies  the  expression  that  "  he  had  a  zeal  for  God, 
though  not  FULLY  t  according  to  knowledge."  Oswald, 

*  Id.  b.  iii.  c.  3,  4,  5. 

■j-  Non  plene.  Warner,  l)y  omitting  the  expression  fully,  misrepre- 
sents oiii'  \enerable  historian,  as  if  lie  had  looked  on  Aidan  as  wrong'  in 
]3oint  of  knowledge  altogether.  In  another  place  he  invidiously  compares 
thie  laboriousness  and  simpiicity  of  the  Irisli  missionary  with  the  pomp  of 
the  Roman  pastors  sent  by  Gregory,  We  have  seen  abundant  proof  of  the 
integrity  and  diligence  of  the  latter.  The  truth  is,  that  though  God  is  no 
respecter  of  persons,  man  is  very  apt  to  be  so.  Wherever  he  sends  pas- 
tors fitted  and  commissioned  by  himself,  genuine  traces  of  tlieir  work  ap- 
pear, and  leave  salutary  iruits  behind  them.  The  Irish  saint  Colomban, 


112 

whom  early  education  had  rather  prejudiced  in  favour 
of  the  same  schism,  gave  him  an  episcopal  see  in  the 
isle  of  Lindisfarn.*  But  there  was  a  great  difficulty, 
which  attended  his  ministry;  Aidan  spake  English 
very  imperfectly.  Oswald  himself,  therefore,  who  tho- 
roughly understood  Irish,  acted  as  his  interpreter. 
The  zeal  of  this  monarch  was  indeed  extraordinary, 
to  induce  him  to  take  such  pains.  Encouraged  by  his 
pro  ection,  more  Irish  ministers  came  into  the  north 
of  England,  and  churches  were  erected;  the  gospel 
was  preached,  and  Northumberland  recovered,  by  the 
zeal  and  piety  of  the  new  missionaries,  the  ground 
which  it  had  lost  by  the  expulsion  of  Paulinus.  Even 
to  the  year  716t  the  principles  of  evangelical  piety 
flourished  in  the  Irish  school  among  this  people ;  at 
which  time  they  were  reduced  to  the  Roman  com- 
munion. 

Aidan  himself  was  a  shining  example  of  godliness. 
He  laboured  to  convert  infidels,  and  to  strengthen 
the  faithful.  He  gave  to  the  poor  whatever  presents 
he  received  from  the  great,  and  employed  himself 
with  his  associates  in  the  scriptures  continually.  He 
strictly  avoided  every  thing  luxurious,  and  every  ap- 
pearance of  secular  avarice  or  ambition:  he  redeemed 
captives  with  the  money  which  was  given  him  by  the 
rich:  he  instructed  them  afterwards;  and  fitted  them 
for  the  ministry. 

The  king  was  not  inferior  to  the  prelate  in  his  en- 
deavors to  promote  godliness.  Uncorrupt  and  humble, 
in  the  midst  of  prosperity,  he  showed  himself  the  be- 
nefactor of  the  poor  and  needy,  and  cheerfully  encou- 
raged every  attempt  to  spread  the  knowledge  and  prac- 
tice of  godliness  among  men. 

In  the  mean  time  Byrinus  was  sent  from  Rome  into 

aiul  after  him  Aidan,  as  well  as  tlie  Roman  missionavies  of  the  Greprorian 
school,  influenced  by  the  same  holy  Spirit,  left  wholesome  vestiges  of 
their  labours  in  the  British  isles,  which  extended  even  to  distant  ages. 
Had  the  former  been  protestants,  properly  speaking-,  and  the  latter  papists, 
the  same  estimate  ought  to  have  been  formed,  though  such  a  distitictior; 
in  reg-ard  to  those  ages  is  chimerical. 

*  Now  called  Holv  Island,  four  miles  from  Benvick. 

fid.  C.4 


113 

Britain,  who,  arriving  among  the  West  Saxons,  and 
finding  them  ail  pagans,  laboured  to  instruct  them. 
Cynigilsiis,  their  king,  the  father  in  law  of  Oswald, 
received  baptism  from  him.  The  two  princes  gave  to 
Byrinus  the  city  of  Dorcinca;*  where  he  resided  as 
bishop,  and  the  gospel  was  propagated  with  success 
through  this  branch  of  the  Heptarchy. 

In  Kent  Eadbald  died  in  the  year  640,t  and  was 
succeeded  by  his  son  Easconbert,  who  reigned  twenty - 
four  j-ears,  was  zealous  in  the  support  of  godliness, 
and  was  the  first  Saxon  king  who  totally  destroyed 
all  the  idols  in  his  dominions. 

Oswald  at  length  in  the  thirty-eighth  year  of  his  age, 
was  slain  in  battle  by  the  same  Penda  king  of  Mercia, 
who  was  mentioned  before.  A  memorable  instance  of 
the  unsearchable  ways  of  providence!  Two  kings, 
whose  equals  in  piety  and  virtue  are  not  easily  found 
in  any  age,  both  lose  their  lives  in  battle  with  the  same 
enemy,  a  barbarian  and  a  pagan!  But  they  served 
not  God  for  worldly,  but  for  heavenly  blessings. 

Providence  was  however  preparing  the  way  for  the 
propagation  of  the  gospel  through  the  whole  Heptar- 
chy. Young  Penda,  son  of  the  tyrant  of  Mercia,  de- 
sired in  marriage  the  daughter  of  Oswy,  brother  and 
successor  to  Oswald.  His  reception  of  Christianity  was 
made  the  condition;  and  the  young  prince,  we  are 
told,  on  hearing  the  doctrines  of  the  gospel  preached, 
was  induced  to  declare,  that  he  would  become  a  chris- 
tian, even  if  Oswy's  daughter  were  denied  him.  Two 
years  before  the  death  of  old  Penda,  the  son  married 
the  Northumbrian  princess,  and  patronized  Christianity 
in  that  part  of  his  father's  dominions,  wliich  was 
committed  to  his  government.  But  the  latter  renewed 
hostilities  against  Oswy,  and  at  length  was  slain  in 
battle. I  Oswy  now  master  of  Mercia  and  Northum- 
berland, applied  himself  to  propagate  Christianity 
among  his  new  subjects.  Through  his  influence  also 

*  Now  Dorchester,  near  Oxford.  f  ^^-  c-  8. 

^  The  battle  w  as  fought  between  Oswy  and  Penda,  near  Loyden,  nov,- 
Leeds,  in  Yorkshire,  at  Winwidfield,  on  the  river  Winvaed,  now  Aire. 


114 

the  gospel  was  restored  to  the  kingdom  of  the  East 
Saxons;  and  London,  which  had  rejected  the  ministry 
of  Mellitus,  again  embraced  the  religion  of  Christ. 

In  this  century,  Kentigeni,  bishop  of  Glasgow  in 
Scotland,  being  expelled  from  his  see,  founded  a  mo- 
nastery and  a  bishopric  on  the  banks  of  the  river  Elwy  *' 
in  North  Wales.  Archbishop  Usher,  quoting  John  of 
Tinmouth,  says,  there  were  in  the  abbey  965  monks, 
one  of  whom  was  named  Asaph.  Kentigern  being 
called  back  to  Glasgow,  appointed  Asaph  abbot  and 
bishop  of  Llan-Elwy.  Of  Asaph  it  is  recorded,  that 
he  was  a  zealous  preacher,  and  that  he  used  to  say, 
"  they  envy  the  salvation  of  souls,  who  withstand  the 
preaching  of  the  word."  The  see  has  since  borne  his 
name;  and  he  seems  to  have  had  a  spirit  superior  to 
the  monastic  superstitioii,  in  which  he  was  educated.* 
Marianus  Scotus,  in  his  chronicle,  says,  in  regard  to 
this  century,  "  Ireland  was  filled  with  saints.  Their 
schools  were  renowned  for  ages."f 

But  it  is  time  to  bring  the  English  church  history 
of  this  century  to  a  close.  That  there  was  a  real  effu- 
sion of  the  holy  Spirit  on  England,  so  that  numbers 
were  turned  from  idols  to  the  living  God;  that  pastors, 
first  of  the  Roman  and  afterwards  of  the  British  com- 
munion, laboured  in  the  work  with  simplicity  and  suc- 
cess, has  been  evidenced.  We  have  had  also  several  in- 
stances of  the  completion  of  that  prophecy,  "  kings 
shall  be  thy  nursing  fathers  and  queens  thy  nursing 
mothers."!  But  the  zeal  and  purity  of  the  christian 
spirit  seldom  last  much  longer  than  thirty  or  forty 
years  in  any  place.  The  native  depravity  of  man  gra- 
dually quenches  the  Spirit  of  God,  and  the  power  of 
godliness  is  soon  buried,  or  at  least  very  faintly  sub- 
sists in  the  rubbish  of  factious  contentions  and  worldly 
lusts.  This  I  find  to  have  been  the  case  in  the  latter 
part  of  the  century  in  England.  Wilfrid,  bishop  of 
York,  a  very  suspicious  character,  in  his  exile  laboured 
indeed  among  the  Frisians,  and  is  said  to  have  been 

*   Alban  Butler,  vol.  v.  f  Id.  ;j:  Isaiah,  xlix.  2". 


il.') 

the  first  missionary  who  taught  that  people.  If  he  did 
any  real  good  among  them,  it  was  the  most  useful 
part  of  his  life;  for  in  Britain  he  seems  to  have  fo- 
mented turbulence  and  contention.  He  paved,  how- 
ever, the  way  for  more  upright  missionaries,  whose 
labours  in  Friezeland  shall  be  mentioned  hereafter. 
The  craft  of  Satan  too  commonly  succeeds  in  foment- 
ing divisions,  even  among  those,  who  with  equal  sin- 
cerity are  engaged  in  the  best  of  causes.  While  such 
men  as  Paulinus  and  Aidan  lived,  the  diversity  of 
sentiments  produced  no  great  mischief.  Afterwards, 
as  depravity  increased,  and  the  spirit  of  faith  and  love 
grew  colder,  very  hurtful  disputes  arose,  to  the  scan- 
dal of  the  gospel.  The  Roman  church,  however,  ac- 
quired more  and  more  influence,  though  it  was  very 
far  from  pervading  the  whole  of  the  British  isles  at 
the  end  of  the  century.  But  nothing  particularly  per- 
tinent to  the  design  of  this  history  occurs.  Let  it  suf- 
fice us  to  say,  that  our  ancestors  saw  in  this  century  a 
blessed  time,  the  fruits  of  which  will  abide  for  ever. 


CHAP.  II. 

The  Propagation  of  tlve  Gospel  in  Germany  and  its 
JVeighbourhood. 

1  HE  northern  parts  of  Europe  had  still  remained  in 
the  darkness  of  idolatry.  In  this  century  they  were 
visited  by  the  Most  High.  The  Britons,  Scots,  and  Irish 
were  honoured  as  the  principal  instruments  in  the 
work,  and  this  circumstance  affords  an  additional  evi- 
dence to  the  account  already  given  of  the  genuine  spi- 
rit of  godliness,  which  prevailed  in  the  British  isles. 
The  French  had  also  their  share  in  the  blessed  cause. 
I  shall  throw  together  the  very  imperfect  hints  which 
are  preserved  to  us  of  these  important  transactions. 
Though  the  first  instance  more  properly  relates  to 


116 

France  than  to  Germany,  it  may  with  no  great  impro- 
priety be  mentioned  in  this  chapter.  Omer,  bishop  of 
Tarvanne,  the  old  metropolis  of  the  Morini  in  Artois, 
laboured  with  success  in  the  cultivation  of  a  wilder- 
ness. Vice  and  idolatry  were  very  predominant  in  his 
diocese;  but  by  the  assistance  of  Bertin  a  Swiss,  his 
kinsman,  he  was  enabled  to  eradicate  inveterate  evils 
and  to  civilize  a  race  of  barbarians. 

The  erection  of  many  convents  in  Germany  for  the 
Scotch  and  Irish,  some  of  which  are  still  extant,  is  to 
be  accounted  for  from  the  ecclesiastical  connexions  of 
their  ancestors.  Many  persons  travelled  from  Great 
Britain  and  Ireland  with  the  laudable  purpose  of  preach- 
ing Christ  in  Batavia,  Belgium,  and  Germany.*  And 
however  superstition  might  tarnish  their  labour's,  there 
must  have  been  a  nobler  principle  to  have  induced 
men  to  undergo  so  much  danger,  with  hardly  any  pos- 
sible prospect  of  lucre  or  of  fame.  Mere  philosophers 
are  generally  but  too  liberal  in  censure  and  raillery: 
we  seldom  however  hear  of  them  engaging  in  any 
work  of  so  disinterested  a  nature.  The  love  of  God 
in  Christ  alone  can  support  the  spirit  of  men  in  such 
enterprises. 

Colomban,  an  Irish  monk,  distinguished  from  him 
of  the  same  name,  spoken  of  before,  who  was  called 
"  the  Ancient,"  toward  the  close  of  the  foregoing  cen- 
tury had  extirpated  the  remains  of  expiring  paganism 
in  France.  He  also  passed  the  Rhine,  and  evangelized 
the  Suevijf  the  Boii,|  and  other  German  nations.  He 
laboured  in  the  cause  to  his  death,  which  happened  in 
the  year  615.  Gal,  one  of  his  companions,  laboured 
with  much  zeal  about  the  lakes  of  Zurich  and  Con- 
stance. Near  the  latter  lake,  at  a  little  distance  from 
Bregent,  he  erected  a  monastery,  which  still  bears  his 
name.  In  fortitude  and  laboriousness  he  was  inferior  to 
none  of  the  missionaries  of  this  age.  But  we  find  very 
little  worthy  of  being  recorded  concerning  him. 

'  Moslieim,  cent.  7th,  c.  1. 

t  This  people  inhabited  the  places  between  the  Rhine  and  the  flbff. 

j  Now  Bavarians. 


117 

The  account  of  Kilian,  another  Irish  missionary,  is 
somewhat  more  satisfactory.  He  received  a  commission 
from  the  bishop  of  Rome  toward  the  end  of  the  century, 
to  preach  to  the  infidels;  and  with  some  of  his  disciples 
he  came  to  Wirtzbourg  upon  the  Mayne,  where  a  pa- 
gan duke  called  Gosbert  was  governor.  The  duke  re- 
ceived the  gospel,  was  baptized,  and  many  followed 
his  example.  But  he  had  married  his  brother's  wife. 
The  missionary  united  discretion  with  zeal,  and  defer- 
red hi.s  admonitions  on  this  head,  till  he  found  that  his 
pupil  the  duke  was  firmly  settled  in  the  faith.*  Kilian 
at  length  ventured  to  act  the  part  of  John  the  Baptist, 
and  the  event  was  in  a  great  measure  similar.  Gosbert 
promised  to  obey,  but  delayed  the  execution  of  his 
promise  till  he  should  return  from  an  expedition.  The 
mischief  of  procrastination  against  the  light  of  con- 
science was  never  more  strongly  illustrated.  In  his  ab- 
sence Geilana,  for  that  was  the  name  of  the  German 
Herodias,  procured  the  murder  of  Kilian  and  his  com- 
panions. They  were  engaged  in  devotional  exercises, 
and  died  with  the  patience  of  martyrs  in  the  year  688. 
Gosbert  was  prevailed  on  by  the  artifices  of  Geilana  to 
suffer  the  murderers  to  escape  with  impunity.  But  all 
the  actors  in  this  tragedy,  Gosbert  among  the  rest,  came 
to  an  unhappy  end;  and  there  is  no  doubt  but  that  in 
this  case,  as  well  as  many  others,  the  blood  of  the  mar- 
tyrs became  the  seed  of  the  church.  Numbers  of  the 
eastern  Franks  had  embraced  Christianity,  and  sealed 
the  mmistry  of  Kilian.  Barbatus,  born  in  the  territory 
of  Benevento  in  Italy,  in  the  beginning  of  this  centu- 
ry, was  also  a  great  ornament  to  it.  Meditation  on  the 
scriptures  was  his  chief  delight.  He  was  looked  upon 
to  excel  in  preaching.  He  acted  as  curate  of  Morcona 
near  Benevento,  and  gave  great  offence  by  his  faith- 
fulness. By  the  malice  of  the  people  he  was  obliged 
to  retire  to  Benevento.  This  town  was  possessed  by 
the  Lombards  who  were  chiefly  arians;  many  of  them 
were  indeed  idolaters,  though  some  were  of  the  ,^eneral 

*  Fleury,b.  xl.37. 

Vol.  IIL  16 


118 

church  with  their  duke  Arichis,  a  friend  of  Gregory  I. 
Barbatus  labouring  there  found  the  christians  so 
called  very  idolatrous.  They  worshipped  a  golden 
viper,  and  a  tree  on  which  the  skin  of  a  wild  beast 
was  hung.  He  preached  and  prayed  a  long  time:  at 
length  the  emperor  Constans  besieging  Benevento, 
the  wicked  inhabitants  were  intimidated  so  far,  as  to 
repent  of  their  idolatry.  Barbatus  was  allowed  to  cut 
down  the  tree,  and  to  melt  the  golden  viper  of  which 
he  made  a  sacramental  chalice.  This  man  was  appoint- 
ed bishop  of  Benevento  in  663,  and  destroyed  every 
vestige  of  idolatry  in  the  whole  state.  He  lived  after- 
wards to  bear  a  testimony  by  his  presence  in  the  coun- 
cil of  Constantinople  against  the  monothelite  heresy, 
and  died  in  682.   See  Butler's  Lives. 

Toward  the  conclusion  of  the  century  Willibrod, 
an  English  missionary-,  and  eleven  of  his  countrymen 
crossed  over  the  sea  into  Holland,  to  labour  among 
the  Friezelanders.  But  being  ill  treated  by  the  king 
of  Friezeland,  who  put  one  of  the  company  to  death,* 
they  retreated  into  Denmark.  Returning  however  into 
Friezeland  in  the  year  693,  they  propagated  divine 
truth  with  success.  Willibrod  was  ordained  bishop 
of  Wilteburgt  by  the  Roman  prelate,  and  laboured 
in  his  diocese  to  his  death;  while  his  associates  spread 
the  gospel  through  Westphalia  and  the  neighbouring 
countries.  I 

It  was  in  this  centurj'^,  the  former  part  of  it,  accord- 
ing to  the  researches  of  one  author,§  the  latter  part, 
according  to  those  of  another,  ||  that  Bavaria  received 
the  gospel  from  the  ministry  of  Rupert,  or  Robert, 
bishop  of  Worms.  He  was  invited  by  Theodo,  duke 
of  Bavaria.  His  ministry  prospered,  and  he  was  ap- 
pointed bishop  of  Saltzburg.  The  increasing  harvest 

*  Mosheim,  cent,  vii,  c.  1. 

t  Now  Utrecht. 

:j:  Disen,  an  Irish  monk,  taught  the  E;-ospel  in  Ireland,  France,  and  Ger- 
many. His  labours  were  most  remarkably  crowned  with  success  in  the 
neighbourhood  of  Mentz.   A.  Butler. 

§  Velserius  Reruin  Boicarum,  b.  iv. 

II  Fleury,  b.  xli,  31.  If  Fleury's  chronology  be  right,  the  greatest  part 
of  the  narrative  before  us  will  belong  to  the  next  century. 


119 

i-equired  more  missionaries:  he  therefore  returned  to 
his  own  country,  and  brought  twelve  assistants:  from 
that  time  Christianity  was  established  in  Bavaria.  Cor- 
binian,  another  Frenchman,  watered,  where  Rupert 
had  planted.  Duke  Theodo  received  him  gladly.  His 
son  and  successor  Grimoald  was  induced  to  part 
with  his  wife  whom  he  had  married  contrary  to  the 
levitical  laws  of  matrimonial  consanguinity;  and  so 
far  as  can  be  judged  from  very  imperfect  accounts, 
the  gospel  was  received  with  great  sincerity  in  this 
©ountry.* 

Somef  time  after,  Emmeram  an  Aquitanian  French- 
man, leaving  his  country  and  his  large  possessions, 
travelled  to  Ratisbon,  to  spread  the  gospel.  He  was 
well  received  by  another  Theodo,  duke  of  Bavaria. 
He  observed,  that  the  Bavarians  were,  many  of  them 
at  least,  still  addicted  to  idolatrous  rites,  which  they 
mixed  with  Christianity.  The  old  inhabitants  were 
particularly  guilty  of  these  things.  He  laboured  among 
them  three  years,  preaching  in  all  the  towns  and  vil- 
lages, and  reserved  for  himself  only  the  bare  necessa- 
ries of  life.  His  success  was  great,  and  his  end  was 
worthy  of  his  profession.  Lambert,  a  son  of  the  duke, 
murdered  him  at  length  with  savage  barbarity.  He  had 
been  offered  a  large  revenue,  and  a  settlement  at  Ra- 
tisbon by  Theodo,  which  he  had  refused,  declaring 
that  he  only  wished  to  preach  Christ  crucified. 

Marinus  and  Anian,  two  Egyptians,  came  into  Ba- 
varia, and  were  very  successful  in  the  same  cause. 
But  the  excessive  austerity,  which  they  brought  with 
them  from  the  east,  must  have  been  detrimental  to 
their  work.  The  former  at  length  was  murdered  by 

*  Tliis  missionary  was  remaikable  for  private  devotion,  as  well  as  public 
labours,  and  reserved  to  himself  a  considerable  portion  of  time  everyday, 
for  prayer  and  meditation.  But  from  Alban  Butler's  accoimt:  I  learn,  that 
Grimoald  persecuted  Corbinian  on  account  of  his  faithfulness,  and  that 
Biitrude  the  relict  of  Grimoald's  brother,  hired  assassins  to  murder  him. 
Both  Grimoald  and  Biitrude  perished  miserably.  If  the  former  was  in- 
duced to  repentance  at  all,  he  seems  to  have  relapsed.  After  the  deaths 
of  his  persecutors  Corbinian  returned  to  Frisingen,  and  laboured  till  hiSi 
death,  which  happened  in  the  year  730. 

t  Velser.  id. 


120 

robbers;  the  latter  died  a  natural  death.  Eloi,  bishop 
of  Noyon,  carefully  visited  his  large  diocese,  espe- 
cially the  pagan  parts  of  it,  and  was  very  successful 
among  the  Flemings,  the  Antwerpers,  and  the  Frisons. 
At  first  he  found  them  fierce,  and  exceedingly  obsti- 
nate. But  God  was  with  him  both  in  life  and  doctrine. 
Every  Easter  he  baptized  great  numbers,  who  had 
been  brought  to  the  knowledge  of  God  in  the  prece- 
ding year.  Very  aged  persons,  amidst  crowds  of  chil- 
dren, came  to  be  baptized,  and  there  is  the  fairest 
evidence  of  his  evangelical  success.  This  is  all  that  I 
can  find,  with  certainty,  of  the  propagation  of  the  gos- 
pel in  the  seventh  century  in  Germany  and  the  neigh- 
bouring countries.  The  censures  of  Mosheim,  as  if 
the  greatest  part  of  the  missionaries  were  not  sincere, 
or  as  if  many  of  the  monks  covered  their  ambition 
with  the  cloke  of  mortification,  appear  to  me  illiberal 
and  unfounded,*  and  would  have  been  more  worthy 
of  a  modern  sceptic.  Superstition  and  an  excessive 
attachment  to  the  Roman  see  is  very  visible  among 
them.  But  the  little  account  of  facts,  which  we  have, 
bears  testimony  to  their  uprightness.  Where  is  that 
charity  which  hopeth  all  things,  if  we  are  to  suppose 
men  to  be  wrong,  against  all  appearances?  If  ecclesias- 
tical historians  had  delighted  as  much  in  recording 
good  as  they  have  in  recording  evil,  it  is  probable  a 
more  ample  refutation  of  the  inconsiderate  aspersions 
of  this  author  might  have  been  exhibited  to  the  reader^ 

*  Mosheim,  id.  I  find  no  just  reason  to  suspect  any  of  them  except 
Wilfrid,  bishop  of  York,  mentioned  in  the  last  chapter.  ' 


121 


CHAP.  III. 

The  General  History  of  the  Church  in  this  Century. 

Jl  HOCAS,  the  Greek  emperor,  was  deposed  and 
slain  by  Heraclius  in  the  year  610:  he  was  one  of  the 
most  vicious  and  profligate  tyrants,  and  may  be  com- 
pared with  Caligula,  Nero,  and  Domitian.  Since  the 
days  of  Constantine  such  characters  had  been  exceed- 
ingly rare.  For  such  was  the  benign  influence  of  the 
gospel,  that  even  amidst  all  the  corruptions  and  abuses 
of  it,  which  were  now  so  numerous,  a  decency  of 
character  and  conduct,  unknown  to  their  pagan  pre- 
decessors, was  supported  by  the  emperors  in  general. 
Heraclius,  the  successor  of  Phocas,  reigned  thirty 
j'ears.  In  the  beginning  of  his  reign  the  Persians 
desolated  the  eastern  part  of  the  empire,  and  made 
themselves  masters  of  Jerusalem.  While  Asia  groaned 
under  their  cruelties  and  oppressions,  and  was  afilicted 
with  scourge  after  scourge,  for  her  long  abuse  of  the 
best  gift  of  God,  an  opportunity  was  given  for  the 
exercise  of  christian  graces  to  a  bishop  of  a  church, 
which  had  long  ceased  to  produce  christian  fruit. 

This  was  John,  bishop  of  Alexandria,  called  the 
Almoner,  on  account  of  his  extensive  liberality.  He 
daily  supplied  with  necessaries  those  who  flocked  into 
Egypt,  after  they  had  escaped  the  Persian  arms.  He 
sent  to  *  Jerusalem  the  most  ample  relief  for  such  as 
remained  there:  he  ransomed  captives;  placed  the  sick 
and  wounded  in  hospitals,  and  visited  them,  in  person, 
two  or  three  times  a  week.  He  even  seems  to  have  in- 
terpreted too  strictly  the  sacred  rule,  "  of  giving  to  him 
that  asketh  of  thee."  His  spirit  however  was  noble. 
*'  Should  the  whole  world  come  to 'Alexandria,"  said 
he,  '•  they  could  not  exhaust  the  treasures  of  God." 

The  Nile  not  having  risen  to  its  usual  height,  there 

*  Flcurv  xxxvii.  10. 


122 

was  a  barren  season;  provisions  were  scarce,  and 
crowds  of  refugees  still  poured  into  Alexandria.  John 
continued,  however,  his  liberal  donatives,  till  he  had 
neither  money,  nor  credit.  The  prayer  of  faith  was 
his  resource,  and  he  still  persevered  in  hope.  He  even 
refused  a  very  tempting  offer  of  a  person,  who  would 
have  bribed  him  with  a  large  present,  that  he  might 
be  ordained  deacon.  "  As  to  my  brethren  the  poor," 
said  the  holy  prelate,  "  God,  who  fed  them,  before 
you  and  I  were  born,  will  take  care  to  feed  them  now, 
if  we  obey  him."  Soon  afterward  he  heard  of  the 
arrival  of  two  large  ships,  which  he  had  sent  into 
Sicily  for  corn.  "  I  thank  thee,  O  Lord,"  cried  the 
bishop  in  a  rapture  of  joy,  "  that  thou  hast  kept  mc 
from  selling  thy  gift  for  money." 

From  the  beginning  of  his  bishopric  he  maintained 
7500  poor  persons  by  daily  alms.  He  was  accessible 
to  them  on  all  occasions;  and  what  is  most  material, 
divine  faith  seems  to  have  influenced  his  acts  of  love. 
**  If  God,"  said  he,  "  allow  us  to  enter  into  his  house 
at  all  times,  and  if  we  wdsh  him  speedily  to  hear 
us,  how  ought  we  to  conduct  ourselves  toward  our 
brethren?"  He  constantly  studied  the  scriptures,  and, 
in  his  conversation,  was  instructive  and  exemplary. 
Slander  and  evil  speaking  he  peculiarly  disliked.  If 
any  person  in  his  presence  was  guilty  in  this  respect, 
he  would  give  another  turn  to  the  discourse.  If  the 
person  still  persisted,  he  would  direct  his  servant  not 
to  admit  him  any  more. 

The  long  course  of  heresy,  licentiousness,  and  am- 
bition, which  had  filled  the  Alexandrian  church,  sup- 
ported by  the  shameful  examples  of  such  pastors  as 
Theophilus  and  other  profligate  men,  must  have 
reduced  it  to  the  lowest  ebb;  and  I  wonder  not  to  find, 
that  persons  behaved  indecently  even  in  public  wor- 
ship. John,  one  day  seeing  several  leave  the  church 
after  the  reading  of  the  gospel,  went  out  also  and  sat 
down  among  them.  "  Children,"  said  he,  "  the  shep- 
herd should  be  with  his  flock;  I  could  pray  at  home, 
but  I  cannot  preach  at  home."  By  doing  this  twice,. 


123 

he  reformed  the  abuse.  Let  it  be  marked,  as  an  evi- 
dence of  the  zeal  of  this  prelate,  who,  like  another 
Josiah,  seems  to  have  been  sent  to  reform  a  falling 
church,  that  the  preaching  of  the  word  engaged  much 
of  his  heart,  and  let  it  moreover  be  observed,  that  the 
contempt  of  preaching  is  a  certain  token  of  extreme 
degeneracy. 

A  canon  was  made  at  Paris,  in  a  council,  in  the 
year  614,  the  same  year  in  which  Jerusalem  was  taken, 
which  enjoins  that  he  shall  be  ordained  to  succeed  a 
deceased  bishop,  who  shall  be  chosen  by  the  arch- 
bishop, together  with  the  bishops  of  the  province,  the 
clergy  and  the  people,  without  any  prospect  of  gain: 
if  the  ordination  be  conducted  otherwise  through 
compulsion  or  neglect,  the  election  shall  be  void. 
The  intelligent  reader  will  hence  judge  of  the  state  of 
ecclesiastical  polity  at  that  time. 

In  616  John  the  Almoner  departed  from  Alexan- 
dria, for  fear  of  the  Persians,  and  died  soon  after  in 
Cyprus,  in  the  same  spirit  in  which  he  had  lived;  and 
with  him  ends  all  that  is  worth  recording  of  the  church 
of  Alexandria. 

In  the  same  year  the  haughty  Chosroes,  king  of 
Persia,  having  conquered  Alexandria  and  Egypt,  and 
taken  Chalcedon,  Heraclius,  who  saw  the  ruin  of  his 
empire  approaching,  begged  for  peace.  "  That  I  will 
never  consent  to,"  replied  the  tyrant,  "  till  you  re- 
nounce him  who  was  crucified,  whom  you  call  God, 
and  with  me  adore  the  sun."  If  one  compare  Chos- 
roes and  Heraclius,  their  personal  characters  will  not 
appear  intrinsically  different.  In  one  is  seen  a  daring 
blasphemer  of  Christ,  in  the  other  a  nominal  profes- 
sor of  his  religion,  whose  life  brought  no  honour  to 
the  name.  Their  ostensible  characters  in  the  world 
were,  however,  extremely  different.  The  Lord,  who 
is  a  jealous  God,  has  ever  been  used  to  confound  his 
open  enemies  in  the  view  of  all  mankind.  Chosroes 
was  a  second  Sennacherib,  and  he  was  treated  as  such 
by  the  Sovereign  of  the  universe.  The  spirit  of  Hera- 
clius was  roused,  and  God  gave  him  wonderful  sue- 


124 

cess:  the  Persian  king  was  repeatedly  vanquished, 
though  he  ceased  not  to  persecute  the  christians,  so 
long  as  he  had  power;  and  after  he  had  lost  the  great- 
est part  of  his  dominions,  he  was  murdered  by  his 
own  son,  as  was  the  case  with  Sennacherib;  and  in  the 
year  628  the  Persian  power  ceased  to  be  formidable 
to  the  Roman  empire.  * 

It  is  not  without  reason  that  St.  Paul  exhorts  us 
"  to  shun  profane  and  vain  babblings;  because  their 
word  will  eat  like  a  canker. "f  The  nestorian  and 
eutychian  heresies,  opposite  extremes,  the  one  divi- 
ding  the  person,  the  other  confounding  the  two  natures 
of  Jesus  Christ,  though  condemned  by  councils,  still 
flourished  in  great  vigor  in  the  east.  And  the  resist- 
ance of  the  orthodox  had  little  effect,  for  want  of  the  J 
energy  of  true  spiritual  life,  which  still  subsisted  in  a 
measure  in  the  west.  For  there  the  sound  doctrine  of 
grace,  the  guard  of  true  humility,  was  an  ensign, 
around  which  truly  pious  men  were  wont  to  rally  their 
strength  from  time  to  time.  But,  in  Asia  and  Egypt, 
religion  was  for  the  most  part  heartless  speculation. 
And  about  the  year  630  the  eutychian  heresy  pro- 
duced another,  the  monothelite,  which  ascribed  only 
one  will  to  Jesus  Christ.  This  opinion  was  the  natural 
consequence  of  that,  which  gave  him  only  one  nature. 
Theodore,  bishop  of  Pharan  in  Arabia,  first  started 
this  notion,  which  was  also  readily  received  by  Ser- 
gius,  bishop  of  Constantinople,  whose  parents  had 
been  eutychians.  Cyrus,  who  soon  after  was  made 
bishop  of  Alexandria,  supported  the  same  heresy. 
The  ambiguous  subtilties  of  the  party  drew  the  em- 
peror Heraclius  into  the  same  net,  and  the  east  was 
rapidly  overspread  with  the  heresy. 

Sophronius,  formerly  the  disciple  of  John  the  Al- 
moner, a  man  of  sincerity  and  simplicity,  with  tears 
bewailed  and  protested  against  the  innovation  in  a 
council  at  Alexandria,  but  in  vain.  Having  been 
elected  bishop  of  Jerusalem  in  629,  he  afterwards  in  633 

»  Flcury,  b.  xxxvii.  31.       i    f  2  Tim.  ii.  16,  17.  |  Fleiivy,  xlvli.  41. 


125 

exerted  his  authority  against  the  growing  heresy,  but 
with  meekness  of  wisdom.  In  a  sy nodical  letter  he 
explained  with  equal  solidity  and  accuracy  the  divine 
and  human  operations  of  Jesus  Christ,  and  gave  perti- 
nent instances  of  both.* 

"  When  he  thought  fit,  he  gave  his  human  nature 
an  opportunity  to  act  or  to  suffer  whatever  belonged 
to  it.  His  incarnation  was  no  fancy,  and  he  always 
acted  voluntaril3\  Jesus  Christ,  as  God,  willingly  took 
on  himself  human  nature,  and  he  willingly  suffered  in 
his  flesh  to  save  us,  and,  by  his  merits,  to  free  us  from 
suffering.  His  body  was  subject  to  our  natural  and 
innocent  passions :  he  permitted  it  to  suffer,  according 
to  its  nature,  till  his  resurrection;  then  he  freed  himself 
from  all  that  is  corruptible  in  our  nature,  that  he 
might  deliver  us  from  the  same."  Sophronius  recom- 
mends himself  to  the  prayers  of  Sergius,  to  whom  he 
writes,  and  adds,  "  pray  for  our  emperors,"  he  means 
Heraclius  and  his  son,  "  that  God  may  give  them  vic- 
tory over  all  the  barbarians;  particularly,  that  he  would 
humble  the  pride  of  the  Saracens,  who  for  our  sins 
have  suddenly  risen  upon  us,  and  lay  all  waste  with 
fierce  barbarity  and  impious  confidence." 

Thus,  in  the  lowest  times  of  evangelical  religion, 
God  ever  raised  up  men  who  understood  the  truth, 
and  knew  how  to  defend  it  by  sound  argument,  a  cha- 
ritable spirit,  and  an  holy  life.  This  seems  to  have 
been  the  case  of  Sophronius.  In  the  mean  time  the 
monothelite  heresy  spread  wider  and  wider.  Even 
Honorius,  bishop  of  Rome,  was  led  into  the  snare, 
owned  but  one  will  in  Jesus  Christ,  and  imposed  si- 
lence on  all  the  controversialists.  Heraclius  himself, 
who  lent  his  imperial  authority  to  the  support  of  a  spe- 
culative phantom,  while  he  imposed  on  his  own  heart 
by  a  specious  show  of  theological  nicety,  lived  in  the 
gross  and  open  wickedness  of  incest,  by  marrying  his 
own  niece. 

The  danger  from  the  Saracens,  mentioned  by  So^ 

*  Fleury,  xxxvili.  5 

Vol.  hi.  17 


126 

phronius,  was  no  other  than  the  victorious  arms  of 
Mahomet,  the  Arabian  impostor.  He  had  begun  in 
the  year  608  to  declare  himself  a  prophet,  and,  by  the 
assistance  of  a  Jew  and  a  renegado  christian,  had 
formed  a  farrago  of  doctrines  and  rites,  in  which  there 
was  a  mixture  of  paganism,  Judaism,  and  Christianity, 
whence  he  found  means  to  draw  over  to  his  party  some 
of  the  various  sorts  of  men  who  inhabited  Arabia.  An 
age  of  excessive  ignorance  favoured  his  schemes:  at 
this  day  so  senseless  and  absurd  a  book  as  the  koran 
could  scarce  move  the  minds  of  any  persons  in  Eu- 
rope. But  he  laid  hold  of  the  corrupt  passions  of  man, 
and  by  indulging  his  followers  in  sensuality,  ambition, 
and  the  love  of  booty,  and  by  promising  them  a  carnal 
heaven  hereafter,  he  contrived  a  religion  more  direct- 
ly adapted  to  please  mankind  than  any  other  of  which 
we  have  heard.  At  the  same  time  by  declaring  war 
against  all  who  did  not  receive  him,  he  gave  an  un- 
doubted right  to  all  nations  to  attack  a  system  which 
could  only  thrive  by  the  oppression  of  others.  But 
there  are  seasons  of  infatuation,  when,  for  the  sins  of 
men,  empires  and  kingdoms  are  permitted  to  slumber, 
and  enter  into  no  effectual  measures  of  resistance,  till 
invaders,  at  first  weak  and  contemptible,  grow  in  time 
to  an  enormous  height.  This  was  the  case  with  ma- 
hometanism.  The  time  was  come  when  the  Saracen 
locusts  were  about  to  torment  the  christian  world, 
and  the  prophecy  of  Rev.  ix.  1 — 12,  was  going  to 
be  fulfilled.  The  Greeks  were  idly  employed  in  the 
new  dispute:  vice  and  wickedness  prevailed  over  the 
east  in  all  forms.  A  few  indeed  mourned  over  the 
times,  and  adorned  the  truth  by  humility  and  holiness, 
but  scarce  any  christian  writers  appeared  to  make  a 
serious  opposition  to  the  doctrines  of  Mahomet;  and 
at  the  time  of  his  death,  which  happened  in  the  year 
631,  he  had  conquered  almost  all  Arabia.* 

*  It  has  pleased  God  to  permit  the  existence  of  this  odious  and  con- 
temptible religion  to  this  day.  And  it  should  be  carefully  observed,  that 
Mahomet,  wicked  and  deceitful  as  he  doubtless  was  altogether,  did  not 
openly  oppoge  God  or  his  Christ.  He  did  not  deny  directly,  though  he 


127 

Notwithstanding  the  decease  of  the  impostor,  the 
mahometan  arms  proceeded  still  with  the  same  rapi- 
dity. Damascus  fell  into  the  hands  of  his  successors; 
and  Sophronius  exhorted  his  flock  to  take  warning 
and  repent.  Jerusalem  however  was  taken  by  the 
enem}^  in  the  year  637,  and  Sophronius  died  soon  after. 
Antioch  and  Alexandria  successively  sunk  under 
them.  Persia  itself  was  subdued.  Thus  did  God 
equally  punish  the  persecuting  idolaters,  and  the  vi- 
cious professors  of  Christianity  in  the  east.  They  were 
doomed  to  a  long  night  of  servitude  under  mahome- 
tanism,  which  continues  to  this  time.  Heraclius  him- 
self died  in  the  year  641.  God  had  showed  him  great 
mercies  and  given  him  very  great  encouragement  to  seek 
true  religion,  by  the  remarkable  success  of  his  arms 
against  the  Persians  in  the  middle  of  his  reign.  But 
he  lived  wickedly  and  speculated  unscripturally.  And 
a  new  power  was  erected,  which  reaped  the  fruits  of 
all  his  Persian  triumphs,  and  tore  from  him  the  fairest 
provinces  of  the  east. 

To  what  purpose  should  I  run  through  the  mazes 
of  the  monothelite  controversy?  Yet  something  must 
be  said  of  the  part  which  Maximus  acted  in  it.  He 
was  one  of  the  most  learned  men  of  the  age,  and  had 
been  employed  by  Heraclius  as  his  secretary;  but  I 
wonder  not  that  a  man,  who  loved  real  godliness,  as 
he  did,  should  have  a  strong  aversion  to  a  court  like 
that  of  Heraclius.  He  entered  into  the  monastery  of 
Chrysopolis  near  Chalcedon,  and  was  at  length  elected 
abbot.  He  it  was  who  succeeded  Sophronius  in  the 

did  consequentially,  the  divine  revelation  either  of  old  or  new  testa- 
ment. He  always  spake  respectfully  of  the  inspired  prophetical  character 
of  Moses  and  of  Christ.  He  received  so  much  of  Christianity  as  agrees 
with  socinianism.  Jehovah  was  not  therefore  openly  despised  by  him  as 
he  was  by  Julian,  Chosroes,  and  Sennacherib.  On  them  was  fulfilled  that 
scripture,  "  he  repayeth  them,  that  hate  him,  to  destroy  them;  he  will  not 
be  slack  to  him,,  that  hateth  him,  he  will  repay  him  to  his  face."  Deater. 
vii.  10.  A  speedy  destruction  of  such  avowed  enemies  seems  to  be 
menaced,  that  the  divine  character  may  be  vindicated.  His  covert  ene- 
mies, who  yet  treat  him  with  respectful  decorum,  are  often  permitted 
long  to  exist,  for  the  punishment  of  false  professors.  For  the  truth  and 
majesty  of  God  are  not  so  sensibly  dishonoured  by  them  in  the  view  of 
the  whole  world,  as  to  call  for  their  immediate  extirpation. 


128 

defence  of  the  primitive  faith,  and  with  much  labour 
confuied  the  heresiarchs.  Martin,  bishop  of  Rome, 
was  excited  by  the  zeal  of  Maximus  to  assemble  a 
council,  in  the  Lateran,  of  a  hundred  and  five  bishops 
in  649.  Constans  was  at  this  time  emperor,  and,  by  a 
decree,  had  forbidden  any  side  at  all  to  be  taken  in 
the  controversy.  Sergius,  Pyrrhus,  and  Paul,  three 
successive  bishops  of  Constantinople,  had  supported 
the  heresy.  The  controversy  had  now  lasted  eighteen 
years.  In  this  way  the  active  minds  of  men,  destitute 
of  true  godliness,  but  eagerly  embracing  the  form, 
gratified  the  selfrighteous  bias  of  the  heart  and  all  the 
malevolent  passions  in  long  protracted  controversies, 
while  practical  religion  was  lost.  Nor  could  all  the 
calamities  of  the  times  and  the  desolation  of  the 
eastern  churches  move  them  to  the  love  of  peace  and 
.  truth. 

In  these  circumstances,  Martin  in  council  ventured 
to  anathematize  the  supporters  of  the  monothelite 
heresy.  I  cannot  blame  his  disobedience  to  the  em- 
peror Constans  in  refusing  to  observe  silence  on  a 
point  of  doctrine,  which  to  him  appeared  important. 
Constans  evidently  forgot  his  office,  when  he  required 
such  things.  And  it  is  a  curious  instance  of  the  power 
of  prejudice  in  some  protestant  historians,*  that  they 
will  so  much  support  the  conduct  of  a  worthless  ty- 
rant, as  Constans  doubtless  was,  because  his  speculative 
principles  induced  him  to  treat  a  Roman  bishop  with 
cruelty.  There  was  a  haughtiness,  no  doubt,  and  an 
asperity  in  the  language  and  behaviour  of  Martin,  very 
unbecoming  a  christian.  His  cause  however  seems 
just;  nor  does  it  appear,  that  he  either  meant  or  acted 
treasonably:  he  defended  that  part  of  the  truth,  which 
was  opposed,  with  the  magnanimity,  though  not  with 
the  meekness,  that  became  a  bishop.  Constans  ordered 
him  to  be  dragged  into  the  east,  and  treated  him  with  a 
long,  protracted  barbarity  of  punishment.  Martin  was 
firm  to  the  last.  "  As  to  this  wretched  body,"  says 

*  See  Bower  and  Mosheim. 


129 

he,  "  the  Lord  will  take  care  of  it.  He  is  at  hand;  why 
should  I  give  myself  any  trouble?  for  I  hope  in  his 
mercy,  that  he  will  not  prolong  my  course."  He 
died  in  the  year  655.  His  extreme  sufferings  of  impri- 
sonment, hunger,  fetters,  brutal  treatment  a  thousand 
ways,  call  for  compassion:  his  constancy  demands 
respect;  and  his  firm  adherence  to  the  doctrines  of 
truth,  though  mixed  with  a  very  blamable  ambition 
in  maintaining  the  dignity  of  the  Roman  see,  deserves 
the  admiration  of  christians.  He  is,  in  Roman  language, 
called  St.  Martin;  and  I  hope  he  had  a  just  title  to 
the  name  in  the  best  sense  of  the  word. 

Maximus  was  also  brought  to  Constantinople,  and, 
by  the  order  of  Constans,  underwent  a  number  of  ex- 
aminations. He  was  asked  b)^  an  officer  to  sign  the 
type;  so  the  edict  of  Constans  was  named.  Only  do 
this,  said  the  officer,  believe  what  you  please  in  your 
heart.  "  It  is  not  to  the  heart  alone,"  replied  Maxi- 
mus, "  that  God  hath  confined  our  duty;  we  are  also 
obliged  with  the  mouth  to  confess  Jesus  Christ  before 
men."*  It  is  astonishing!  to  observe,  what  pains 
were  taken  to  engage  him  to  own  the  monothelite 
party,  nor  can  this  be  accounted  for  in  any  other  way 
than  by  the  opinion  which  all  men  had  of  his  piety 
and  sincerity,  and  the  expectation  of  the  influence, 
which  his  example  would  have  on  many.  But  the 
labour  was  lost:  Maximus,  though  seventy-five  years 
old,  preserved  all  the  vigor  of  understanding,  and 
confounded  his  examiners,  by  the  solidity  of  his  an- 
swers. He  clearly  proved,  "  that  to  allow  only  one 
will  or  operation  in  Jesus  Christ  was  in  reality  to 
allow  only  one  nature:  that  therefore  the  opinion  for 
which  the  emperor  was  so  zealous,  was  nothing  more 
than  eutychianism  diessed  up  anew:  that  he  had  not 
so  properly  condemned  the  emperor,  as  the  doctrine, 
by  whomsoever  it  was  held:  that  it  was  contrary  to 
the  current  of  ail  ecclesiastical  antiquity:  that  our  Sa- 
viour was  always  allowed  from  the  apostolical  times 

*  See  Butler's  Lives,  vol.  xii.        f  Fleury,  b.  xxxiv.  12,  &c. 


130 

to  be  perfect  God  and  perfect  man,  and  must  there- 
fore have  the  nature,  will,  and  operations  distinctly- 
belonging  both  to  God  and  man:  that  the  new  notion 
went  to  confound  the  idea  both  of  the  divinity  and  the 
humanity,  and  to  leave  him  no  proper  existence  at  all: 
that  the  emperor  was  not  a  pastor,  and  that  it  had 
never  been  practised  by  christian  emperors  in  the  best 
times,  to  impose  silence  on  bishops:  that  it  was  the 
duty  of  the  latter  not  to  disguise  the  truth  by  ambi- 
guous expressions,  but  to  defend  it  by  clear  and 
distinct  terms  adapted  to  the  subject:  that  arianism 
had  always  endeavoured  to  support  itself  by  such 
artifices  as  those  employed  by  the  emperor,  and  that 
a  peace  obtained  by  such  methods  in  the  church  was 
at  the  expense  of  truth. "  I  admire  the  good  sense  and 
sincerity,  which  appear  through  the  very  long' account 
of  his  defence,  of  which  I  have  given  a  very  brief 
summary.  Were  it  not,  that  God,  from  age  to  age, 
had  raised  up  such  champions  in  his  church,  humanly- 
speaking,  not  an  atom  of  christian  truth  by  this  time 
w^ould  have  been  left  in  the  world.  For  heretics  have 
uniformly  acted  on  this  plan:  they  have  imposed 
silence  on  the  orthodox,  under  pretence  of  the  love 
of  peace  and  union,  whenever  they  had  the  power,  and 
in  the  mean  time  propagated  their  own  tenets.  The 
question  before  us  was  very  metaphysical  and  obscure; 
yet,  if  the  emperor's  side  had  prevailed,  instead  of  an 
insignificant  party,  called  the  maronites,  in  the  east, 
who  still  subsist,  the  monothelites  might  have  filled 
half  the  globe  to  this  day. 

The  tyrant,  enraged  to  find  himself  disappointed, 
ordered  Maximus  to  be  scourged,  his  tongue  to  be 
cut  out,  his  right  hand  to  be  cut  off;  and  he  then 
directed  the  maimed  abbot  to  be  banished  and  doomed 
to  imprisonment  for  the  rest  of  his  life.  The  same 
punishment  was  inflicted  on  two  of  his  disciples, 
both  of  the  name  of  Anastasius.  These  three  upright 
men  were  separated  from  each  other,  and  confined  in 
three  castles  in  obscure  regions  of  the  east.  Their 
condemnation  took  place  in  656:  Maximus  died  in 


131 

662:  one  of  the  Anastasiuses  in  664:  they  both  had 
sustained  the  most  cruel  indignities,  and  had  been 
rendered  incapable  of  any  consolations,  except  those 
which  undoubtedly  belong  to  men  who  suffer  for 
righteousness'  sake.  The  other  Anastasius  died  in  a 
castle  at  the  foot  of  Mount  Caucasus  in  666. 

While  such  barbarous  measures  were  used  by  no- 
minal christians  to  support  unscriptural  tenets,  it  is 
not  to  be  wondered  at  that  providence  frowned  on  the 
affairs  of  the  empire.  The  Saracens  now  ruled  over 
Arabia,  Persia,  Mesopotamia,  Chaldea,  Syria,  Pales- 
tine, Egypt,  and  part  of  Africa.  Even  Europe  suffer- 
ed from  the  depredations  of  the  Arabians,  and  part  of 
Sicily  was  reduced  to  their  subjection. 

The  unworthy  emperor  Constans  murdered  also  his 
own  brother  Theodosius,  and  continued  to  disgrace 
the  christian  name  by  his  follies,  his  vices,  and  his 
cruelties.  He  was  himself  despatched  at  length  in  the 
twenty-seventh  year  of  his  reign  in  667. 

In  the  year  680  a  general  council  was  called  at  Con- 
stantinople: the  emperor  Constantine  Pogonatus  pre- 
sided: the  monothelite  heresy  was  anathematized;  and 
its  several  abettors  were  condemned,  among  whom 
was  Honorius  a  bishop  of  Rome.  A  certain  proof  that 
infallibility  was  neither  allowed  nor  pretended  to  at 
that  time  by  the  Italian  prelate.  For  the  legates  of 
Agathon,  who  was  then  bishop  of  Rome,  were  at  the 
council,  nor  do  we  find  that  any  opposition  was  made 
by  them  or  by  their  master  to  the  condemnation  of  Ho- 
norius. 

If  we  compare  the  east  and  the  west,  during  this 
century,  we  shall  see  a  very  striking  difference.  In 
England  true  godliness  shone  for  a  considerable  part 
of  it:  in  France  there  was  a  good  measure  of  piety; 
and  from  these  two  countries  divine  truth  made  its 
way  into  Germany  and  the  north  with  glorious  suc- 
cess. In  Italy,  the  Lombards  were  more  and  more 
cleared  of  arianism;  and  though  there  arose  no  bishop 
of  Rome  to  be  compared  at  all  to  Gregory,  yet  the 
purity  of  the  faith  was  preserved  by  them  all,  in  point 


132 

of  theological  speculation,  except  one.  And  his  con- 
demnation, which  we  have  just  seen,  demonstrates, 
that  antichrist  had  not  yet  arrived  at  maturity.  Infal- 
libility was  not  then  thought  of,  as  attached  to  the  per- 
son of  the  Roman  prelate.  His  power  indeed  was 
much  too  great;  so  was  his  pomp  and  influence.  But 
it  was  the  same  with  the  bishops  of  other  great  sees: 
and  the  bishop  of  Constantinople  retains  the  title  of 
universal  bishop  to  this  day.  Nor  had  the  bishop  of 
Rome  any  temporal  dominion,  nor  did  he  pretend  to 
any.  In  fine,  the  most  decisive  marks  of  antichrist, 
idolatry  and  false  doctrine,  had  not  yet  appeared  at 
Rome.  Superstition  and  vice  were  lamentably  on  the 
increase  in  the  west,  though  a  considerable  degree  of 
true  piety  prevailed,  and  some  gracious  effusions  of 
the  Spirit  of  God  appeared. 

The  influences  of  divine  grace  seem  to  have  been 
withheld,  in  the  east,  intirely.  Men  hud  there  filled  up 
the  measure  of  their  iniquities.  Even  from  Origen's 
days  a  decline  of  true  doctrine,  and  the  spirit  of  seep* 
tical  philosophy,  ever  hostile  to  that  of  grace,  kept 
them  low  in  religion  compared  with  their  western 
brethren.  How  precious  must  the  grace  of  the  gospel 
be,  which,  being  revived  in  Europe,  in  the  time  of 
Augustine,  ceased  not  to  produce  salutary  effects,  and 
to  extend  true  religion  even  to  the  most  savage  na- 
tions! Attempts  indeed  to  propagate,  what  they  called 
Christianity,  were  made  in  the  east  by  the  nestorians, 
who  dwelt  in  Persia  and  India,  and  by  the  eutychians, 
who  flourished  in  Egypt.  The  former  were  particu- 
larly successful  in  increasing  their  numbers;  but  I 
have  nothing  to  produce  of  real  godliness  as  the  result 
of  the  labours  of  either  party.  Abyssinia,  which  from 
the  days  of  Athanasius,  always  considered  herself  as  a 
daughter  of  Alexandria,  receives  thence  her  pontiff"  to 
this  day:  when  eutychianism  prevailed  in  Egypt,  it 
did  so  of  course  in  Abyssinia,  and  has  been  the  preva- 
lent form  ever  since  the  seventh  century  in  both  coun- 
tries. The  mahometan  conquerors  reduced  the  ancient 
professors  of  orthodoxy  into  a  state  of  extreme  insig- 


133 

iiificancy;  and  this  was  one  of  the  scourges  of  God  by 
the  Arabian  imposture,  namely,  that  heretics  were  en- 
couraged and  protected  by  those  conquerors,  while 
the  orthodox  were  crushed.  Orthodox  patriarchs  ex- 
isted indeed  in  Egypt  for  some  time  after  the  Saracen 
conquest.  But  ignorance,  superstition,  and  immorality, 
still  abounded,  and  have  now  continued  to  abound  for 
many  centuries.  The  east,  whence  the  light  first  arose, 
has  long  sat  in  darkness,  with  the  exception  of  some 
individuals  from  age  to  age,  such  as  John  the  Almo- 
ner and  a  few  others,  who  have  been  mentioned  in 
this  chapter.  God  will  have  a  church  upon  earth,  and 
it  shall  be  carried  to  the  most  despised  regions  rather 
than  extinguished  intirely.  And  there  is  a  voice  which 
speaks  to  Europe  in  diese  works  of  his  providence  in 
a  louder  tone  than  I  know  how  to  describe. 

Africa  fell  under  the  power  of  the  mahometans  to- 
ward the  close  of  this  century.  It  had  long  shared  in 
the  general  corruption,  and  it  shared  in  the  general 
punishment.  The  region,  which  has  so  often  refresh- 
ed us  with  evangelical  light  and  energy,  where  Cy- 
prian suffered,  and  where  Augustine  taught,  was  con- 
signed to  mahometan  darkness,  and  must  henceforth 
he  very  neai'ly  dismissed  from  these  memoirs. 


.CHAP.  IV. 

Authors  of  this  Century.* 

ISIDORE,  of  Seville,  flourished  in  the  former  part  of 
it :  he  governed  the  church  of  Seville  for  forty  years, 
having  succeeded  his  brother  Leander,  of  whom  we 
have  made  honourable  mention  already.  This  writer 
was  volumiiious,  and,  with  all  due  allowance  for  the 
superstition  of  the  age,  appears  to  have  been  sincerely 

*  Du  Pin,  Cent.  T- 

Vol.  III.  18 


134 

pious.  But  perhaps  the  most  useful  part  of  his  works 
is  his  collection  of  sentences  out  of  Gregory.  He 
seems  to  have  been  providentially  given  to  Spain,  in 
order  to  preserve  some  of  the  ancient  learning,  and  to 
prevent  men  from  sinking  into  total  ignorance  and 
rusticit}-. 

Colomban  must  be  mentioned  also  as  an  author, 
though  we  hav£  already  celebrated  him  in  the  charac- 
ter in  which  he  shone  far  more,  namely,  of  a  mission- 
ary. He  was,  no  doubt,  pious  and  fervent:  he  wrote 
monastic  rules,  and  while  every  part  of  his  writings  is 
infected  with  the  servile  genius  of  the  times  and  the 
spirit  of  bondage,  which  had  seized  the  church,  one 
sentence  retrieves  his  character,  and  with  it  I  shall 
dismiss  him.  "  We  must  have  recourse  to  Christ  the 
fountain  of  life."  Sophronius  of  Jerusalem  wrote  a 
synodical  letter  to  confute  the  monothelites.  His  part 
in  that  controversy  has  been  stated  already.  He  asserted 
that  we  shall  rise  with  the  same  body,  and  that  the 
punishments  of  hell  are  eternal.  The  most  remarkable 
thing  in  him,  is  the  soundness  of  his  doctrine,  which 
he  adorned  with  genuine  piety  and  purity  of  life. 

Martin,  bishop  of  Rome,  whose  sufferings  from  the 
tyrant  Constans  have  been  succinctly  described,  was 
one  of  the  greatest  men  of  the  age.  Some  of  his  letters 
are  extant,  and  they  indicate  both  strength  of  mind  and 
%eal  in  religion.  Amandus,  bishop  of  Utrecht,  in  wri- 
ting to  him,  declared,  that  he  was  so  grieved  to  find 
some  clergymen  to  have  lived  lasciviously  after  their 
ordination,  that  he  was  tempted  to  quit  his  bishop- 
ric. Martin  dissuaded  him;  and  at  the  same  time  ex- 
horted him  to  exercise  salutary  discipline  on  the  of- 
fenders, declarinij;,  that  such  clergymen  should  be  de- 
posed intirely  from  the  sacerdotal  function,  that  they 
may  repent  in  a  private  condition,  and  may  find  mercy 
at  the  last  day.  He  exhorts  Amandus  to  undergo  pa- 
tiently all  trials  for  the  salvation  of  the  sheep,  and  the 
service  of  God.  This  Roman  prelate,  doubtless,  was 
sincere,  ^nd  he  appeaj^s  to  have  defended  evangelical 
truth  Avith  much  firmness.  And  it  was  for  a  branch  of 


135 

scriptural  doctrine,  that  he  suffered  with  consistenc} 
and  integrity. 

I  mention  Maximus,  his  fellow  sufferer  in  the  same 
cause.  His  writuigs  are  too  scholastical  to  merit  much 
attention,  though  he  was,  doubdess,  a  very  able  rea- 
soner,  and,  what  is  infinitely  better,  a  pious  and  up- 
right man. 

I  might  swell  the  list,  with  the  names  of  writers  lit- 
tle known,  and  of  little  use.  Learning  was  very  low;^ 
the  taste  of  the  age  was  barbarous:  we  have  seen  how- 
ever that  Christ  had  then  a  church;  and  the  reader,  if 
he  pleases,  may  travel  through  still  darker  scenes;  yet 
I  trust  some  glimmerings  of  the  presence  of  Christ 
will  appear. 


CENTURY  VIII. 

CHAP.  I. 

Venerable  Bede,  the  English  Presbyter. 

1  HE  church  history  of  our  country,  written  by  this 
renowned  father,  was  continued  to  the  year  7.il.  I 
have  extracted  from  it  that  which  suited  my  purpose. 
He  is  said  to  have  died  in  735.  Of  his  age  the  accounts 
are  ver}-  contradictory.  The  history  of  the  century 
will  properly  begin  with  a  brief  narrative  of  the  life 
and  works  of  this  historian. 

He  was  born  near  Durham,  in  a  village  now  called 
Farrow,  near  the  mouth  of  the  Tyne.  Losing  both  his 
parents  at  the  age  of  seven  years,  he  was,  by  the  care  of 
relations,  placed  in  the  monastery  of  Weremouth,  was. 
there  educated  with  much  strictness,  and  appears  from 
his  youth  to  have  been  devoted  to  the  service  of  God. 
He  vi^as  afterwards  removed  to  the  neighbouring  monas- 
tery of  Jerrow,  where  he  ended  his  days.  He  was  look- 
ed on  as  the  most  learned  man  of  his  time.  Prayer,  wri- 
ting, andteaching  were  his  familiar  employments  during 
his  whole  life.*  He  was  ordained  deacon  in  the  nine- 
teenth, and  presbyter  in  the  thirtieth  year  of  his  age. 
He  gave  himself  wholly  to  the  study  of  the  scripture, 
the  instruction  of  disciples,  the  offices  of  public  wor- 
ship, and  the  composition  of  religious  and  literary 
works.  The  life  of  such  a  person  can  admit  of  little 
variety.  It  was  not,  however,  for  want  of  opportunity, 
that  he  lived  thus  obscure.  His  character  was  cele- 
brated through  the  western  world:  the  bishop  of  Rome 
invited  him  warmly  to  the  metropolis  of  the  church; 
but,   in  the  eyes  of  Bede,  the   great  world  had  no 

*  Life  of  Bede,  prefixed  to  his  works.  Cologne  edition. 


137 

charms.  It  does  not  appear  that  he  ever  left  England^ 
and,  however  infected  with  the  fashionable  devotion  to 
the  Roman  see,  he  was  evidently  suicere  and  dis- 
interested. 

Constantly  engaged  in  reading  or  writing,  he  made 
all  his  studies  subservient  to  devotion.  As  he  was  sen- 
sible, that  it  is  by  the  grace  of  God  rather  than  by  na- 
tural faculties  that  the  most  profitable  knowledge  of 
the  scriptures  is  acquired,  he  mixed  prayer  with  his 
studies.  He  never  knew  what  it  was  to  do  nothing. 
He  wrote  on  all  the  branches  of  knowledge  then  culti- 
vated in  Europe.  In  Greek  and  Hebrew  he  had  a  skill 
very  uncommon  in  that  barbarous  age;  and,  by  his  in^ 
structions  and  example,  he  raised  up  many  scholars. 
Knowledge  indeed  in  those  times  was  more  familiar 
in  the  British  isles  than  in  any  part  of  Europe. 

The  catalogue  of  Bede's  works  exhibits  the  proofs 
of  his  amazing  industry.  His  church  history  is  to  us 
the  most  valuable,  because  it  is  the  only  British  mon- 
ument of  the  church  which  we  have  for  the  seventh 
century.  His  expositions  and  homilies,  however,  must 
in  that  dearth  of  knowledge  have  been  abundantly  use- 
ful. The  ignorance  of  the  times  is  indeed  but  too  vi- 
sible in  him;  and  he  followed  Augustine  and  other 
fathers  so  closely,  and  collected  so  much  from  various 
authors,  that  his  want  of  original  genius  is  more  than 
problematical.  Genuine  godliness,  rather  than  taste 
and  genius,  appear  on  the  face  of  his  writings.  His  la^ 
hours  in  the  sciences  show  a  love  of  learning;  however 
inconsiderable  his  acquisitions  must  appear,  in  compa- 
rison with  the  attainments  of  the  present  age. 

In  his  last  sickness  he  was  afflicted  with  a  difficulty 
of  breathing  for  two  weeks.  His  mind  was,  however, 
serene  and  cheerful;  his  affections  were  heavenly;  and, 
amidst  these  infirmities,  he  daily  taught  his  disciples. 
A  great  part  of  the  night  was  employed  in  prayer  and 
thanksgiving;  and  the  first  employment  of  the  morning 
was  to  ruminate  on  the  scriptures,  and  to  address  his 
God  in  pra\er.  "  God  scourgeth  every  son  whom  he 
receiveth,"  was  frequently  in  his  mouth. 


138 

Even  amidst  his  bodily  weakness  he  was  employed 
in  writing  two  little  treatises.  Perceiving  his  end  to 
draw  near  he  said,  "  if  my  Maker  please,  I  will  go  to 
him  from  the  flesh,  who,  when  I  was  not,  formed  me 
out  of  nothing.  My  soul  desires  to  see  Christ  my 
King  in  his  beauty."  He  sang  glory  to  the  Father,  the 
Son,  and  the  Holyghost,  and  expired  with  a  se- 
dateness,  composure,  and  devotion,  that  amazed  all, 
who  saw  and  heard. 

This  is  the  account  of  his  death  by  one  of  his  disci- 
ples; and  a  very  few  quotations  from  his  expository 
writings  will  show  on  what  solid  grounds  these  reli- 
gious affections  were  founded.  In  expounding  Acts 
ii.  28.  "  thou  hast  made  known  to  me  the  ways  of  life; 
thou  shalt  make  me  full  of  joy  with  thy  countenance," 
he  says,  "  These  things  are  not  only  to  be  understood 
of  our  Lord,  who  needed  no  other  guide  to  overcome 
the  kingdom  of  death,  but  having  received  at  once  the 
fulness  of  divine  strength  and  wisdom,  was  able  to  con- 
quer death  by  himself,  rise  again  to  life,  and  ascend  to 
his  Father,  but  also  of  his  elect,  who,  by  his  gift,  find 
the  well  of  life,  by  which  they  rise  to  the  bliss,  which 
they  lost  in  Adam,  and  shall  be  filled  with  heavenly 
joy.  This  shall  be  our  perfect  bliss,  when  we  shall  see 
him  face  to  face."  Philip  knew  this  well,  when  he  said, 
"  Lord,  show  us  the  Father,  and  it  sufficeth  us.  That 
pleasure  of  seeing  the  face  of  God  sufficeth:  there  shall 
be  nothing  more;  nor  is  there  a  call  for  any  thing  more, 
when  he  is  seen,  who  is  above  all."*^ 

"  Other  innumerable  methods  of  saving  men  being 
set  aside,  this  was  selected  by  infinite  wisdom,  namely, 
that,  without  any  diminution  of  his  divinity,  he  as- 
sumed also  humanity,  and  in  humanity  procured  so 
much  good  to  men,  that  temporal  death,  though  not 
due  from  him,  was  yet  paid,  to  deliver  them  from 
eternal  death,  which  was  due  from  them.    Such  was 

*  Retractat.  on  Acts  of  the  Apostles.  I  cannot  prevail  on  myself  to 
omit  this  passaf^e,  thouj^fh  tlie  expression  of  Philip  be  not  so  pertinent  to 
the  purpose  of  the  author,  as  some  other  portions  of  scripture  might 
liave  been. 


139 
«»  .......... 

the  eificacy  of  that  blood,  that  the  devil  who  slew 
Christ  by  a  temporary  death,  which  was  not  due,  can- 
not detain  in  eternal  death  any  of  those  who  are  clo- 
thed with  Christ,  though  that  eternal  death  be  due  for 
their  sins."*- 

Such  were  the  evangelical  views,  w^hich,  in  a  night 
of  superstition,  biirst  forth  from  the  northern  extre- 
mity of  England.  But  the  doctrines  revived  by  Au- 
gustine flourished  still  in  Europe  in  a  good  degree, 
though  in  no  part  more  than  in  the  British  isles.  Mo- 
nastic superstition  grew,  indeed,  excessively  among 
our  fathers  at  the  same  time,  and,  in  the  end,  intirely 
corrupted  the  doctrines  themselves.  But  that  was  not 
yet  the  case:  superstition  itself,  though  deplorably 
childish  and  absurd,  was  not  incompatible  with  since- 
rity and  the  fear  of  God.  The  real  nature  of  the  gos- 
pel, and  its  practical  exercise  in  faith,  humility,  and 
true  mortification  of  sin,  were  understood  and  felt  by 
the  Saxon  presbyter,  whose  comments  on  St.  Paul's 
epistles  are,  in  depth  of  understanding,  and  penetra- 
tion into  the  sacred  sense,  even  with  ail  the  defects  of 
the  times,  greatly  superior  to  several  admired  exposi- 
tions of  this,  which  calls  itself  an  enlightened,  age. 

The  seventh  chapter  to  the  Romans  may  deservedly 
be  called  a  touchstone  of  spiritual  understanding. 
Too  many  modern  divines,  by  supposing  that  the 
apostle  is  only  describing  the  conflict  between  reason 
and  passion,  after  the  manner  of  the  ancient  philoso- 
phers, have  demonstrated  their  own  total  ignorance 
of  St.  Paul's  argument.  He  only,  who  feels,  abhors, 
and  sincerely  struggles  with  indwelling  sin,  who  is 
conscious  of  its  unutterable  malignity,  and  is  humbled 
under  this  conviction,  can  understand  the  apostle 
aright,  and  prize  the  real  grace  of  God  in  Jesus  Christ. 
Such  was  Bede:  the  very  best  expositors  in  the  most 
evangelical  times  do  not  much  exceed  him,  in  clear- 
ness and  solidity,  in  the  exposition  of  this  chapter.  I 
^vill  not  delay  the  reader  by  quoting  largely  from  his 

*  On  Rom.  V, 


140 
* 

explication.  Suffice  it  to  give  a  hint  or  two.  He  ob- 
serves, from  the  apostle,  that  the  desire  of  sinning 
itself  is  increased  by  the  prohibitions  of  the  law, 
which  therefore  increases  sin,  without  giving  any 
strength;  and  the  purport  of  this  part  of  the  divine  '# 
economy  is,  that  men  groaning  under  the  law  might 
come  to  the  Mediator.  He  strongly  contends,  that  the 
wretched  carnal  person,  sold  under  sin,  in  this  chapter, 
was  no  personated  character,  but  Paul  himself,  and 
he  confirms  this  by  observing,  from  the  epistle  to  the 
Philippians,  that  the  apostle  confessed  "  he  was  not 
perfect,  and  had  not  attained  unto  the  resurrection  of 
the  dead:"  and  from  another  epistle,  that  he  was  even 
buffeted  by  Satan,  and  had  a  thorn  in  his  flesh,  lest  he 
should  be  exalted  above  measure.  This  inward  war- 
fare, our  author  contends,  must  last  through  life.  "  In 
the  resurrection,  every  thing,"  says  he,  "  shall  be  per- 
fected. In  the  mean  time  it  is  a  great  thing  to  keep 
the  field,  and  remain  unconquered,  though  not  dis- 
charged from  war." 

But  though  he  fully  reached  the  scope  of  Augus- 
tine, from  whose  labours  he  profited  abundantly,  he 
seems  never  to  go  beyond  it.  Indeed  his  expositions 
are  extracts  and  compilations  from  the  fathers,  chiefly 
from  Augustine.  In  this  sense  they  were  his  own,  that 
he  understood  and  experienced  their  truth  and  effica- 
cy. But  judgment  and  industry,  not  genius  and  inven- 
tion, were  the  talents  of  this  writer.  Though  the 
thought  I  am  going  to  mention  is  most  probably  not 
his  own,  yet  it  gives  so  instructive  a  view  of  the  state 
of  all  mankind  ranked  in  four  classes,  that  I  cannot 
prevail  on  myself  to  withhold  it  from  the  reader. 
Speaking  of  the  conflict  with  indwelling  sin,  described 
in  Rom.  vii,  he  observes,  "  that  there  are  those  who 
fight  not  at  all,  and  are  drawn  away  by  their  lusts; 
others  who  fight  indeed,  but  are  overcome,  because 
they  fight  without  faith,  and  in  their  own  strength; 
others  who  fight  and  are  still  in  the  field,  not  over- 
come, which  was  the  case  of  St.  Paul  and  all  true 
christians  in  this  world;  and  lastly,  others  who  have 


141 

overcome  and  are  at  rest  above."  Bede,  like  Augus- 
tine, allegorizes  to  excess,  and  is  very  often  desultory 
and  vague  in  his  comments:  his  views  of  Solomon's 
Song  are  solid,  though  in  the  explication  too  minute: 
still  more  faulty  perhaps  are  his  expositions  on  the  ta- 
bernacle and  on  Solomon's  temple.  His  homilies,  at 
the  time,  must  have  been  very  edifying,  notwithstand- 
ing the  puerile  fancies,  with  which  they  are  disco- 
loured. On  the  whole,  I  shall  venture  to  observe, 
what,  however,  no  reader  will  be  prepared  to  receive, 
unless  his  mind  has  been  seasoned  with  a  degree  of 
experimental  religion,  that  the  comments  of  Bede  are 
far  more  solid  and  judicious  than  those  of  many  mo- 
dern, improperly  called  rational,  divines;  though  in  the 
former  the  errors  of  fanciful  allegory  abound,  in  the 
latter  an  air  of  strict  and  accurate  argumentation  every 
where  appears.  The  reason  is,  because  the  former, 
being  possessed  of  the  true  meaning  of  the  apostle 
on  the  whole,  supports  and  illustrates  it  throughout, 
though  he  fails  in  detached  passages  because  of  the 
desultory  ebullitions  of  a  vicious  taste,  which  predo- 
minated in  his  time;  the  latter,  with  "  semblance  of 
worth,  not  substance,"  are  accurate  and  just  in  many 
particulars,  but  from  their  system  of  notions,  which  is 
extremely  opposite  to  that  of  St.  Paul,  mislead  their 
readers  altogether,  in  regard  to  the  main  drift  of  the 
argument. 

A  year  before  our  presbyter's  death,  he  wrote  a  let- 
ter to  Egbert,  archbishop  of  York,  which  deserves  to 
be  immortalized  for  the  solid  sense,  which  it  exhibits, 
a  quality,  with  vv^hich  Bede  was  very  eminently  eiii- 
dowed.* 

"  Above  all  things,"  says  he,  "  avoid  useless  dis- 
course, and  apply  yourself  to  the  holy  scriptures,  es- 
pecially the  epistles  to  Timothy  and  Titus;  toGregory's 
Pastoral  Care,  and  his  homilies  on  the  gospel.  It  is 
indecent  for  him,  who  is  dedicated  to  the  service  of 
the  church,,  to  give  way  to  actions  or  discourse  unsuit- 

•  Bede's  Works,  Paris  edit.  p.  46. 

Vol.  III.  19 


142 

able  to  his  character.  Have  always  those  about  you, 
who  may  assist  you  in  temptation:  be  not  like  some 
bishops,  who  love  to  have  those  about  them,  who  love 
good  cheer,  and  divert  them  with  trilling  and  facetious 
conversation. 

"Your  diocese  is  too  large  to  allow  you  to  go  through 
the  whole  in  a  year;  therefore  appoint  presbyters,  in 
each  village,  to  instruct  and  administer  the  sacraments; 
and  let  them  be  studious,  that  every  one  of  them  may 
learn,  by  heart,  the  creed  and  the  Lord's  prayer;  and 
that  if  they  do  not  understand  Latin,  they  may  repeat 
them  in  their  own  tongue.  I  have  translated  them  into 
English,  for  the  benefit  of  ignorant  presbyters.  I  am 
told,  that  there  are  many  villages  in  our  nation,  in  the 
mountainous  parts,  the  inhabitants  of  which  have  never 
seen  a  bishop  or  pastor;  and  yet  they  are  obliged  to 
pay  their  dues  to  the  bishop. 

"  The  best  means  to  reform  our  church,  is  to  increase 
the  number  of  bishops:  who  sees  not,  how  much 
more  reasonable  it  is  for  numbers  to  share  this  bur- 
den? Gregory  therefore  directed  Augustine  to  appoint 
twelve  bishops  to  be  under  the  archbishop  of  York, 
as  their  metropolitan.  I  wish  you  would  fill  up  this 
number,  with  the  assistance  of  the  king  of  Northum- 
berland.* 

"  I  know  it  is  not  easy  to  find  an  empty  place  for 
the  erection  of  a  bishopric.  You  may  choose  some 
monastery  for  the  purpose.  In  truth,  there  are  many 
places,  which  have  the  name  of  monasteries  without 
deserving  it."  He  goes  on  to  show  how,  for  thirty 
years  past,  the  scandalous  abuse  of  monasteries  had 
prevailed,  and  how  useless  many  of  them  were  to 
church  and  state,  as  they  preserved  neither  piety  nor 
decency.  He  directs  Egbert  to  see  that  his  flock  be 
instructed  in  christian  faith  and  practice,  and  that  they 
frequently  attend  on  the  communion.  He  finds  fault 

•  His  name  was  Cedulph.  Two  years  after  Bede's  death,  he  gave  up 
Lis  crown  and  lived  twenty-two  years  in  a  monastery.  His  mind  was  most 
probably  truly  devout,  thoug^h  the  spirit  of  the  times  led  him  into  a  de- 
generate method  of  showing-  it 


143 

with  the  excessive  multiplication  of  monks,  and  ex- 
presses his  fears,  lest,  in  process  of  time,  the  state  should 
be  destitute  of  soldiers  to  repel  an  invasion.  This  last 
observation  is  of  a  piece  with  another  at  the  close  of  his 
history,  that  many  Northumbrians  in  his  days,  both 
nobles  and  private  men,  emplo5ed  themselves  and 
their  children  more  in  monastic  vows  than  in  the  ex- 
ercise of  arms.  "  What  effect  this  will  have,"  says  he, 
"the  next  generation  will  bear  witness."  It  is  no  com- 
mon instance  of  judgment  in  one  who  had  always  been 
a  monk,  to  notice  these  evils.*  How  they  happened 
to  be  so  very  fashionable  in  our  island,  il  is  not  hard 
to  account  for.  Our  ancestors  were,  doubtless,  much 
indebted  under  God  to  the  Roman  see.  Christianity, 
before  the  missions  of  Gregory,  was  very  low  in 
England.  A  real  spirit  of  godliness,  the  sincere  prac- 
tice and  true  understanding  of  the  gospel,  had  been, 
through  the  bishops  of  Rome,  introduced  among  bar- 
barians. Even  the  benefits  thence  resulting  to  society 
must  have  been  great.  Gratitude  and  affection  would 
naturally  lead  our  ancestors,  in  those  superstitious 
ages,  to  monastic  excesses.  And  if  the  evils,  of  which 
Bede  complains,  be  strong  proofs  of  the  superstitious 
taste,  they  are  also  of  the  spirit  of  piety  which  subsist- 
ed among  them.  While  Bede  lived,  in  no  part  of  the 
world  was  godliness  better  understood  and  practised, 
than  among  our  ancestors.  In  a  synod  held  by  Cuth- 
bert,  archbishop  of  Canterbury,  about  the  middle  of 
this  century,  at  Cloveshoo,!  there  were  twelve  pre- 
lates, with  Ethelbald,  king  of  the  Mercians.  The  ca- 
nons of  this  synod  would  have  done  honour  to  the 
purest  times,  and  they  seem  to  have  been  inspired  by 
the  genius  of  Bede.  The  clergy  are  directed  to  have 
fellowship  with  one  another,  to  serve  God  in  one  spi- 
rit of  faith,  hope,  and  charity,  to  pray  for  one  another, 

*  Even  kings  gave  themselves  up  to  retirements  of  this  kind,  and  there 
want  not  instances,  among  the  Saxon  princes,  of  pilgrimages  to  Rome  of 
a  religious  nature. 

■•■  Now  ClifF,  near  Rochester.    Warner. 


144 

to  attend  the  duties  of  the  sabbath,  and,  in  fine,  the 
same  things  are  repeated,  which  are  to  be  found  in 
Bede's  letter  to  Egbert. 

Let  us  not  pride  ourselves  in  a  fancied  superiority 
to  our  forefathers:  a  vanity  of  this  seems  to  be  the  dis- 
ease of  the  present  age;  but  men  were  not  all  without 
understanding  in  those  dark  seasons.  The  indiscri- 
minating  censures  of  Mosheim  on  whole  centuries, 
seem  to  show  more  malignity  than  discernment.  Bede 
alone  knew  more  of  true  religion,  both  doctrinal  and 
practical,  than  numbers  of  ecclesiastics  put  together 
at  this  day;  which  will  clearly  appear,  if  we  do  but  free 
him  from  superstitious  rubbish,  and  examine  what  he 
is  internally. 


CHAP  II. 

Miscellaneous  Particulars. 

/V  LITTLE  after  the  beginning  of  this  century, 
Lambert,  bishop  of  Maestricht,  was  murdered.  He 
had  succeeded  Theodard,  under  whom  he  had  been 
educated,  and,  for  forty  years,  had  adorned  the  gospel 
by  a  life  of  piety  and  charity.  He  had  been  seven  years 
deprived  of  his  see  amidst  the  civil  confusions  of  France, 
but  had  been  reestablished  about  the  year  681.  This 
prelate  had  exerted  himself  with  much  zeal  in  his  dio- 
cese, and  laboured  with  success  in  the  conversion  of 
the  pagans,  who  were  in  his  neighbourhood.  His  pa- 
tience as  well  as  his  doctrine,  had  a  salutary  effect.  It 
is  not,  however,  in  the  power  of  the  wisest  and  best 
of  men,  to  restrain  the  tempers  of  their  friends  and 
relations.  Two  brothers,  Gallus  and  Riold,  were  in- 
tolerably violent  in  plundering  the  church  of  Mae- 
stricht, and  infesting  the  neighbourhood.  Lambert's  re- 
lations, particularly  two  nephews,  returned  evil  for  evil, 
and  slew  them,  much  against  the  will  of  the  bishop. 


145 

Doubtless,  the  brothers  ought  to  have  applied  to  the 
civil  nicigistrate,  though  justice  was  at  that  time  very 
ill  administered  in  France.  Dodo,  a  powerful  baron 
of  the  neighbourhood,  a  relation  of  the  robbers,  was 
determined  to  revenge  their  deaths  upon  the  bishop 
himself;  and  he  attacked  him  with  armed  men  at  Leo- 
dium-^  upon  the  Meuse.  Lambert,  in  his  first  agita- 
tion upon  the  news  of  their  approach,  seized  a  sword, 
but  recollecting  himself,  and  lifting  up  his  heart  to 
God  in  prayer,  he  laid  aside  the  sword,  and  composed 
himself  to  suffer.  Two  of  his  nephews  began  to  make 
resistance.  "  If  you  love  me  truly,"  said  Lambert, 
*'  love  Jesus  Christ  also,  and  confess  }  our  sins  to  him. 
As  for  me,  it  is  time  for  me  to  go  to  live  with  him,'? 
"  Do  you  not  hear,"  said  another  nephew,  "  how  they 
call  out  to  set  fire  to  the  house,  to  burn  us  all  alive?" 
Remember,  replied  the  bishop  calmly,  the  guilt  of  the 
murder  is  yours:  submit  to  receive  the  due  recom- 
pence  of  your  deeds.  He  continued  in  fervent  prayer, 
and  the  armed  men  put  all,  whom  they  found,  to  the 
SMord,  and  Lambert  himself  among  the  rest.  A  man 
of  a  christian  spirit  surely,  and  worthy  of  a  more 
enlightened  age,  in  which  his  humility,  piety,  and 
charity  might  have  shone  with  a  brighter  lustre! 

Ceolfrid,  in  the  early  part  of  this  century,  governed 
the  two  monasteries  of  Weremouth  and  Jerrow,  which 
had  educated  Bede.  Through  his  influence,  the  Picts, 
who  inhabited  North  Britain,  were  brought  over  to 
the  Roman  mode  of  celebrating  Easter,  and  of  course 
to  the  Roman  communion. f  But  I  can  find  no  account 
of  any  progress  in  piety  in  the  British  isles.  As  the 
Roman  church  itself  grew  more  corrupt  in  this  cen- 
tury, our  ancestors  were  infected  with  a  larger  portion 
of  its  superstitions. 

In  the  year  713,  the  mahometans  passed  over  from 
Africa  into  Spain,  and  put  an  end  to  the  kingdom  of 
the  Goths,  which  had  lasted  near  three  hundred  years. 
» 

*  Now  I/iege.  Fleury,  xli.  16. 

t  Egbert,  an  Englishman,  not  long  after,  effected  the  same  change 
among  many  of  the  Irisli. 


146 

The  christians  were  there  reduced  to  slavery;  and 
thus  were  scourged  those  wicked  professors,  who  had 
long  held  the  truth  in  unrighteousness,  called  on  the 
name  of  Christ,  while  in  works  they  denied  him,  and 
buried  his  faith  under  an  enormous  heap  of  supersti- 
tions. A  remnant)  however,  preserved  their  independen- 
cy in  the  Asturian  mountains,  who  chose  Pelagius  for 
their  king,  a  person  descended  from  the  royal  family. 
He  expressed  his  hope,  that  after  God  had  chastised 
them  for  their  sins,  he  would  not  give  them  up  wholly 
to  the  mahometans.  His  confidence  in  God  was  not 
disapppinted.  Under  circumstances  extremely  disad- 
vantageous, he  defeated  the  enemy,  repeopled  the 
cities,  rebuilt  the  churches,  and,  by  the  pious  assist- 
ance of  several  pastors,  supported  the  gospel  in  one 
district  of  Spain,  while  the  greatest  part  of  the  coun- 
try was  overrun  by  the  Arabians.  But  the  successors 
of  Pelagius,  by  degrees,  recovered  more  cities  from 
the  enemy. 

Christendom,  at  this  time,  afforded  a  very  grievous 
and  mournful  spectacle.  Idolatry  itself  was  now  spread- 
ing widely  both  in  Europe  and  in  Asia,  among  the  pro- 
fessors of  the  gospel  :*^  men  had  very  commonly  every 
where  forsaken  the  faith  and  the  precepts  of  Jesus,  in 
all  those  countries,  which  had  been  long  evangelized. 
The  people,  who  served  the  Lord  in  the  greatest  pu- 
rity and  sincerity,  seem  to  have  been  our  ancestors, f 
and  the  inhabitants  of  some  other  regions,  which  had 
but  lately  received  the  gospel.  So  true  is  the  observa- 
tion, which  our  history  constantly  gives  us  occasion 
to  make,  namely,  that  there  is  a  perpetual  tendency  in 
human  nature  to  degeneracy  and  corruption.  Such, 
however,  was  the  goodness  of  God,  that  he  still  exer- 

*  This  important  event  will  be  explained  in  the  next  chapter. 

f  Ireland,  which  Prideaux  calls  the  prime  seat  of  learning  in  all  Chris- 
tendom, during  the  reig-n  of  Charlemai^ne,  was  peculiarly  distinguished 
in  this  century.  Uaher  lias  proved  the  name  of  Scotia  to  have  been  ap- 
propriated to  Ireland  at  this  time.  Eginhard,  the  secretary  of  Charle- 
magne, calls  Ireland,  Hibernia  Scotorum  insula.  Several  of  these  Scftts 
(Irish)  laboured  in  the  vineyard  in  Charlemagne's  time,  and  were  made 
bishops  in  Germany.  BotU  sacred  and  profane  learning  were  taught  by 
them  with  success. 


147 

eised  much  longsuffering  amidst  the  most  provoking- 
enormities;  and  after  he  had  removed  the  candlestick 
from  some  churches,  he  carried  it  to  other  places,*  so 
that  the  Ught  of  his  gospel  was  never  removed  from 
the  earth.  The  most  marvellous  event  in  such  cases, 
is,  that  men  seem  not  at  all  conscious  of  their  crimes, 
nor  perceive  the  avenging  hand  of  God  upon  them. 
For  the  nominal  christians  of  the  day  were  insensible 
of  their  condition;  and,  though  the  Arabians  were  evi- 
dently making  large  strides  toward  universal  domi- 
nion, it  was  not  till  they  had  advanced  into  the  heart 
of  France,  and  ravaged  that  country  in  a  dreadful 
manner,  that  any  strong  efforts  were  made  to  with- 
stand them.  In  the  year  732,  however,  they  were  to- 
tally defeated  near  Poictiers,  by  the  heroic  Charles 
Martel.  An  event  memorable  in  history,  because  by 
it  the  providence  of  God  stopped  the  progress  of  the 
Arabian  locusts.  It  is  astonishing,  that  all  the  civil- 
ized nations  had  not  long  ago  united  in  a  league, 
which  would  have  been  equally  just  and  prudent,  to 
stem  the  torrent,  which  threatened  the  desolation  of 
mankind.  Those  who  had,  for  ages,  trusted  more  in 
relics,  altars,  austerities,  pilgrimages,  than  in  Christ 
crucified,  and  had  lived  in  deceit,  avarice,  and  unclean- 
ness,  were  suffered  to  yield  themselves  a  prey  to  de- 
vouring invaders.  Adored  be  that  providence,  which, 
in  the  crisis,  preserved  Europe  from  complete  deso- 
lation, and,  by  saving  France  from  those  barbarians, 
has  still  left  a  people  to  serve  God  in  these  western 
regions,  f 

*  This  will  be  illustrated  in  chap.  iv. 

f  The  plague  of  the  locusts,  Rev.  ix.  continued  five  months,  that  is, 
150  years,  a  day  being  reclioned  for  a  year  in  prophetical  language.  It 
may  be  difficult  to  reckon  exactly  the  time  of  the  extension  of  the  Ara- 
bian conquests,  because  of  the  inaccuracy  and  confusion  of  historians. 
But  divine  truth  was  exact  no  doubt;  and  under  every  possible  way  of^ 
computation,  the  period  of  about  150  ypars  '.vili  properly  limit  the  dura- 
tion of  the  Saracen  conquests. 


148 


CHAP.  III. 


The  Contro'oersij  of  Images.  The  Maturity  of  Anti- 
christ. 

IN  the  year  727,  the  Greek  emperor  began  open  hos- 
tihty  with  the  bishop  of  Rome,  and,  to  use  the  words 
of  Sigonius,*  Rome  and  the  Roman  dukedom  passed 
from  the  Greek  to  the  Roman  bishop.  It  would  have 
been  more  accurate  to  say,  that  a  foundation  was  then 
laid  for  the  temporal  power  of  that  prelate,  than  that 
it  was  actually  established.  However,  as  it  was  esta- 
blished a  few  years  after,  and  a  rupture  commenced 
at  the  period  just  mentioned,  I  shall  assume  this  as  the 
most  proper  date,  that  I  know  of,  for  the  beginning 
of  popedom,  which  from  this  time  is  to  be  regarded 
as  antichrist  indeed;  for  it  set  itself  by  temporal  power 
to  support  false  doctrine,  and  particularly  that,  which 
deserves  the  name  of  idolatry. 

The  marvellous  propensity  of  all  ages  to  the  sin  of 
idolatry,  which  implies  a  departure  of  the  heart  from 
the  one  living  and  true  God,  must  originate  in  some 
steady  principles  existing  in  the  nature  of  fallen  man. 
The  true  account  of  this  extraordinary  and  lamenta- 
ble fact  seems  to  be  as  follows.  God  is  an  immaterial, 
selfexistent  being,  of  infinite  power  and  goodness,  and, 
as  our  maker  and  preserver,  he  has  an  imquestionable 
ckim  to  our  supreme  veneration  and  affection.  Man, 
considered  as  a  rational  creature,  is  endowed  with 
faculties  abundantly  sufficient  for  the  discovery  of  this 
great  and  perfect  Being,  so  far  as  his  own  duties  and 
interests  are  concerned.  This  has  frequently  been 
proved,  by  able  moralists,  in  the  way  of  argument, 
and  is  expressly  affirmed  to  be  the  case,  by  St.  Paul, 
in  the  first  chapter  of  the  epistle  to  the  Romans,  where 
it  is  said,  that  "  the  invisible  things  of  Him  from  the 
creation  of  the  world  are  clearly  seen,  being  under- 

*  Sigon.  Il'ist.  de  Regn.  Italic,  B.  Ill: 


/  149 

stood  by  the  tilings  that  are  made,"  and  where  tt  is 
added  "  that  they  are  without  excuse." 

In  fact,  however,  fallen  man  has  never,  by  the  mere 
use  of  his  reason,  found  out  God  to  any  good  purpose, 
and  worshipped  him  accordingly;  and  even  when  God 
by  special  revelation  has  condescended  to  explain  and 
manifest  his  true  character  to  a  particular  people,  few 
of  that  people  have  served  him  as  they  ought  to  have 
done  for  any  great  length  of  time;  but  they  soon 
corrupted  the  divine  religion,  and  were  plunged  in 
idolatry. 

The  Jehovah  of  the  sacred  writings,  and  the  al- 
mighty and  all  perfect  God,  which  may  be  discovered 
by  sound  reason,  is  an  invisible  being,  and  is  to  be 
honoured,  as  a  spirit,  with  the  heart  and  the  under- 
standing, and  without  the  intervention  of  sensible  ob- 
jects, as  stocks  or  stones.  "  Thou  shaltlove  the  Lord 
thy  God  with  all  thy  heart,  and  with  all  thy  soul:" 
but  the  history  of  our  corrupted  nature  shows,  that 
images  and  other  sensible  objects  have,  in  all  ages, 
offered  themselves  to  men's  minds  as  guides  and  helps 
to  a  conception  of  the  Deity;  and  if,  in  some  instan- 
ces, these  absurd  inventions  of  gross  idolatry  have 
been  rejected  by  men  of  learning  and  refinement,  it 
has  then  generally  happened,  that  intellectual  figments 
of  philosophical  vanity  have  been  substituted  in  their 
place,  figments  still  more  atheistical  in  their  nature, 
and  farther  removed  from  the  notion  of  a  wise  and 
authoritative  Governor  of  the  universe,  who  enjoins 
the  submission  and  dependence  of  his  creatures,  re- 
quires their  obedience,  and  dispenses  justice  impar- 
tially. 

The  principles,  which  appear  to  account  for  this 
apostasy  and  opposition  to  the  divine  will,  may  be 
comprehended  under  the  terms  pride,  selflove,  self- 
righteousness,  and  desire  of  independence,  or,  in- 
deed, under  the  single  term  pride  alone,  if  we  use 
that  expression  according  to  its  most  extensive  appli- 
cation. Fallen  man  is  too  proud,  practically  to  feel 
and  confess  his  relative  ignorance  and  inanity,  when 
Vol.  III.  20 


150 

compared  with  the  supreme  Author  of  all  things;  and 
the  iame  principle  prevents  him  from  placir.g  his  su- 
preme regard  and  esteem  on  God,  though  reason  dic- 
tate, and  revelation  command  this  duty.  He  loves 
himself  and  his  own  gratifications  too  well.  Then  it  is 
easy  to  understand,  that  pride  and  selfrighteousness 
are  nearly  synonymous  expressions:  a  proud  being 
will  never  esteem  his  own  "  righteousnesses  as  filthy 
rags"  (Isaiah  Ixiv.  6.);  will  never  cordially  beg  for 
pardon  of  his  sins:  he  has  too  good  an  opinion  of  his 
own  labours,  inventions,  and  performances;  in  a  word, 
he  is  selfrighteous;  and,  in  a  similar  way,  it  is  plain, 
that  the  same  being  will  aim  at  independence,  and  be 
impatient  of  control.  In  such  a  dangerous  and  corrupt 
state  of  human  affections,  the  broad  and  crowded  road 
to  idolatry,  which  is  the  object  we  are  seeking,  is  not 
difficult  to  be  traced.  For,  whether  we  consider  pride 
as  a  comprehensive  principle,  evolving  itself,  accord- 
ing to  the  explanation  just  given,  in  various  mis- 
chievous operations,  or,  whether  we  choose  to  confine 
the  meaning  of  the  term,  no  one  will  doubt,  but  that, 
in  fact,  mankind  in  all  ages  have  been  grievously  want- 
ing in  humility,  have  proudly  set  themselves  up 
against  God,  have  been  actuated  by  inordinate  self- 
love,  and  not  submitting  to  the  righteousness  of  God, 
have  endeavoured  to  establish  their  own  righteous- 
ness, and  have  been  impatient  of  control.  The  exis- 
tence of  these  principles  and  inclinations  implies  an 
absolute  departure  of  the  heart  from  the  living  God; 
and  when  that  has  once  taken  place  through  the  action 
of  some  steady  cause,  the  progress  to  idolatry,  or  to 
some  species  of  atheism,  nearly  allied  to  idolatry,  is 
the  next  step.  Man  has  departed  from  the  true  God, 
and  there  must  be  some  device  to  quiet  conscience. 
Thus,  in  rude  and  barbarous  times,  the  proud,  self- 
righteous  devotee,  will  naturally  have  recourse  to  the 
sottish  invention  of  the  worship  of  wood,  or  stone,  or 
metals,  and  become  a  gross  idolater.  He  will  burn  part 
of  the  wood  with  fire,  and  of  the  rest  he  will  make  a 
god,  and  kneel  before  it.   The  discovery  mightily 


151 

pleases  him:  he  has  found  out  a  god  exactly  suited  to 
his  taste;  a  god,  who  will  easily  pardon  his  vices,  set 
a  high  value  on  his  imagined  virtues,  and  be  con- 
stantly propitious  to  him;  a  god,  who  is  not  an  uni- 
versal governor  or  benefactor,  but  who  is  particularly 
kind  to  himself  and  his  countrymen;  a  god,  whom  he 
can  see  and  handle,  and  in  which  he  may  pride  him- 
self, as  having  contrived  and  finished  it  with  the  tongs 
and  hammer,  or  with  the  plane  and  compass;  a  god, 
which  is  local  and  tutelar,  and  over  which  he  himself 
has  considerable  power:  he  can  place  it  in  his  temple, 
in  his  chamber,  or  in  the  camp. 

The  ancient  idolaters  often  represented,  by  their 
images,  deceased  chiefs,  or  heroes,  or  kings,  who 
were  still  supposed  to  possess  a  superintending  influ> 
ence  over  the  affairs  of  men;  and,  not  unfrequently, 
these  departed  beings  appear  to  have  ranked  among 
the  most  wicked  of  mankind.  In  more  modern  times, 
even  Christianity  itself  has  been  disgraced  with  the 
adoration  of  images,  representations,  and  relics  of 
saints;,  nor  has  the  abominable  superstition  always 
sufficiently  taken  care,  that  the  supposed  saints  them- 
selves should  have  been  reputable  characters. 

In  ages  of  great  learning  and  refinement,  the  same 
principles  of  pride,  &:c.  which  in  religious  concerns, 
blinding  the  understanding  and  corrupting  the  affec- 
tions, effectually  draw  the  heart  from  the  living  and 
true  God,  induce  men  to  profess  a  reverence  for  ab- 
struse and  intellectual  figments,  as  nature,  a  principle 
of  order,  or  the  soul  of  the  universe.  These  notions  of 
God,  which  prevail  in  polished  seasons  of  the  world, 
in  one  sense  merit  the  imputation  of  idolatry,  in  an- 
other of  atheism;  and,  in  any  possible  interpretation, 
they  must  be  deemed  equivocal,  unintelligible,  and 
pernicious.  The  species  of  idolatry  are  exceedingly 
various;  but  they  differ  not  much  either  in  their  source 
or  their  tendency.  In  all  circumstances,  man  is  miser- 
able and  blind,  if  he  be  not  seeking  and  worshipping 
the  true  God  in  spirit  and  truth.  If,  in  breach  of  the 
second  commandment,  he  represent  the  glory  of  Je- 


152 

hovah  by  images,  or  if,  in  breach  of  the  first,  he  set 
up  a  divinity  opposite  to  Jehovah,  in  both  cases  he 
forms  a  deceitful  basis  for  salvation  and  happiness, 
and  directly  affronts  the  perfections  of  God.  Such 
practices  are,  therefore,  forbidden  throughout  the 
scripture,  in  the  most  positive  manner. 

The  guilt  of  idolatry  is  not  so  apparent  to  natural 
conscience,  as  that  of  crimes  committed  against  our 
fellow  creatures;  though  no  sin  is  so  much  spoken 
against  through  the  old  testament.  Many  are  apt  to 
wonder  why  the  Israelites  were  so  prone  to  it;  not 
considering  nor  knowing  their  own  idolatry,  which 
works  in  a  way  more  suited  to  present  times  and  cir- 
cumstances. But  whoever  understands,  that  idolatry 
implies  the  departure  of  the  heart  from  the  living  God 
and  a  fixing  of  it  on  something  else;  that  to  refuse  to 
trust  his  word,  and  to  choose  to  put  confidence  in 
some  sensible  object,  by  which  we  would  represent 
him  to  our  minds;  still  further,  to  glory  in  our  own 
strengdi  and  righteousness,  instead  of  seeking  salva- 
tion b)^  grace  through  faith  only,  proceeds  from  pride, 
and  pours  all  possible  contempt  on  the  divine  Ma- 
jesty, will  not  wonder  at  God's  indignation  against 
this  sin,  will  see  how  naturally  it  operates  on  the  hu- 
man mind,  and  how  it  affords  a  complete  demonstra- 
tion of  the  apostasy  of  man. 

The  ancient  church  of  God  were  distinguished  from 
the  nations  all  around  by  the  most  express  prohibi- 
tions of  this  sin.  They  were  directed  not  to  worship 
any  but  the  living  God,  nor  even  Jehovah  himself  by 
any  images  whatever;  much  less  were  they  allowed  to 
worship  any  creature  by  representations,  which  would 
be  to  break  the  two  first  commandments  by  the  same 
act.  He,  who  knows  the  propensity  of  his  own  heart 
to  distrust  the  providence  and  grace  of  God,  and  how 
eagerly  we  catch  at  any  human  relief,  instead  of  pa- 
tiently waiting  upon  God  in  trouble,  will  not  wonder 
that  the  Israelites  worshipped  the  calf  in  the  absence 
of  Moses,  nor  think  the  sin  small,  because  they  in- 
tended to  honour  Jehovah  by  the  symbol. 


153 

Under  the  gospel  dispensation  the  prohibition  of 
images  contiiiued,  and,  in  the  purest  times,  there  was 
little  occasion  to  dwell  on  the  subject.  God  in  Christ 
was  worshipped,  in  spirit  and  in  truth,  by  the  primi- 
tive christians:  and,  while  they  called  on  the  gentiles 
to  turn  from  their  idols  to  the  living  God,  idolatry  it- 
self, in  any  of  its  forms,  could  scarce  find  a  shadow  of 
admission  into  the  christian  church. 

For,  while  men's  hearts  were  filled  with  peace  and 
joy  in  believing,  while  the  doctrines  of  justification 
and  regeneration  were  precious  and  allimportant  in 
their  e}  es,  and  they  lived  by  the  faith  of  Jesus,  saw 
his  glory,  and  felt  in  their  souls  the  transforming 
power  of  his  grace,  the  deceitful  aids  of  idolatry  had 
nb  charms.  It  was  not  till  the  knowledge  of  the  gospel 
itself  was  darkened  and  adulterated,  that  the  miserable 
spirits  of  men  had  recourse  to  such'Hain  refuges,  and 
that  the  mind,  no  longer  under  the  influence  of  the 
holy  Spirit,  betook  itself  to  the  arts  of  sculpture  and 
painting,  in  order  to  inflame  its  affections,  and  to  kin- 
dle a  false  fire  of  devotion.  Christians  then  worshipped 
the  true  God  with  the  understanding,  and  whoever 
was  converted  to  the  faith,  ceased  from  idolatry.  And, 
as  we  have  seen,  christian  emperors,  particularly 
Theodosius,  destroyed  image  worship  in  their  domi- 
nions. Origen,  in  his  treatise  against  Celsus,  observes, 
that  it  is  not  possible,  that  any,  by  worshipphig  images, 
should  attain  the  knowledge  of  God.  Athanasius  and 
Lactantius*  strongly  inculcate  the  same  truth.  To- 
ward the  end  of  the  fourth  century  some  approach  to- 
ward this  evil  appeared  in  the  church.  Epiphanius, 
bishop  of  Cyprus,  observes,!  that  he  found  a  linen 
cloth  hanging  on  the  church  door  painted,  artd  having 

*  In  the  three  homilies  of  the  church  of  Enp^land  against  peril  of  ido- 
latry, the  controversy  is  handled  with  much  solidity  and  historical  infor- 
mation. I  have  made  some  use  of  them  for  my  purpose.  It  seems  pro- 
per that  every  protestant  divine  should  acquaint  himself  with  the  funda- 
mentals of  the  controversy,  and  be  able  satisfactorily  to  convince  himself, 
that  popery  is  not,  what  it  pretends  to  be,  founded  on  the  precedents-  of 
christian  antiquity. 

t  See  vol.  ii. 


154 

in  it  the  image  of  Christ,  or  of  some  saint.  "  Observ- 
ing this,"  says  he,  '*  so  contrary  to  the  authority  of  the 
scriptures,  I  tore  the  cloth."  The  famous  Jerom  pub- 
lished, in  Latin,  an  epistle  of  Epiphanius  concerning 
this  subject,  and  added  his  own  testimony  on  the  point. 
So  evident  is  it,  that  at  that  time  images  were  abso- 
lutely prohibited  in  the  church  of  Christ. 

Augustine  also  gave  his  opinion  against  images. 
"  They  are  of  more  force  to  pervert  the  soul  than  to  in- 
struct-it."  And  "when  images  are  once  placed  in 
tem.ples,  and  had  in  honours,  error  creepeth  in."  Men, 
however,  Avho  had  been  lately  turned  from  idols,  be- 
gan at  length  to  paint  or  carve  images  of  Christ,  the 
virgin  Mary,  and  the  apostles;  and  Jerom  observes, 
that  the  errors  of  images  passed  to  the  christians  from 
the  gentiles;  and  Eusebius,  the  historian,  says  that  im- 
ages of  Peter  anj  Paul,  and  of  our  Saviour  himself, 
were  made  in  his  time,  which  he  took  "  to  be  an  hea- 
thenish custom."  They  were  not,  however,  worship- 
ped, nor  publicly  set  up  in  churches.  Paulinus,  who 
died  bishop  of  Nola  in  the  year  431,  caused  the  walls 
of  a  temple  to  be  painted  wdth  stories  taken  from  the 
old  testament,  that  the  people  might  thence  receive  in- 
struction: the  "written  word  was  neglected,  and  these 
poor  substitutes  were  placed  in  its  room.  A  strong 
sign  of  the  growing  ignorance!  As  the  ignorance  in- 
creased, these  historical  paintings  and  images  increased 
also.  Serenus,  bishop  of  Marseilles,  because  of  the 
danger  of  idolatry,  brake  to  pieces  the  images  then  set 
up  in  the  churches.  And  I  have  already  noticed  the 
imprudent  concession  made  by  Gregory,  bishop  of 
Rome,  on  this  occasion,  to  the  growing  superstition. 
Thus,  six  hundred  years  after  Christ,  images  had 
begun  to  appear  in  churches,  but  still  without  idolatry. 
The  authority  of  Gregory,  however  had  evil  conse- 
quences: the  spirit  of  idolatry  grew  stronger,  as  real 
spiritual  knowledge  decayed;  and  men,  having  now- 
much  lost  the  divine  way  of  applying  to  God 
through  Christ,  by  faith,  for  the  relief  of  their 
consciences,    became    still   more    prone   to   rely  on 


155 

idols.  So  closely  connected  is  the  doctrine  of  justifica- 
tion with  purity  of  worship.  In  this  respect  the  Roman* 
church  advanced  in  corruption  more  rapidly  than  the 
eastern.  And  Grecian  emperors  employed  themselves 
in  destroying  images  and  pictures,  while  in  Italy  they 
were  held  in  idolatrous  admiration.  The  evil,  in  truth, 
became  incurable,  because  there  was  no  clear  and  ef- 
fectual knowledge  of  the  gospel,  that  might  dissipate 
the  clouds  of  error.  Yet  were  men's  opinions  divided 
both  in  the  east  and  the  west;  and,  at  length,  the  crisis 
arose,  when  the  christian  world  was  formally  broken 
into  two  parties  on  this  question. 

We  are  now  advanced  to  the  year  727,  when  Leo, 
the  Isaurian,  the  Greek  emperor,  began  openly  to  op> 
pose  the  worship  of  images,  and  produced  the  rupture 
with  the  Roman  see,  before  mentioned.  A  Syrian, 
born  of  christian  parents,  named  Beser,  who  had  been 
taken  by  the  mahometans,  and  afterwards  returned  to 
the  Romans,  had  imbibed  an  opinion  of  the  unlawful- 
ness of  the  practice,  having,  very  probably,  observed 
the  advantage  which  it  had  given  to  the  infidels.  He 
was  in  great  favour  with  the  emperor,  and  convinced 
him  by  his  arguments,  that  image  worship  was  idola- 
trous. But  the  most  eminent  defender  of  the  purity  of 
divine  worship  in  this  point,  and  whom  Fleury  there- 
fore, in  his  popish  zeal,  calls  the  author  of  the  heresy, f 
was  Constantine,  bishop  of  Nacolia  in  Phrygia.  Con- 
vinced in  his  judgment,  and  zealous  to  propagate 
what  appeared  to  him  to  be  right,  Leo  assembled  the 
people,  and  with  the  frankness  and  sincerity,  which 
marks  his  character,  publicly  avowed  his  conviction  of 
the  idolatry  of  the  growing  practice,  and  declared  that 
images  ought  not  to  be  erected  for  adoration.  Such  a. 
declaration  in  the  sixth  century  would  have  raised  no 
ferment  in  Christendom;  but  idolatry  had  been  gradu- 
ally advancing  itself,  as  the  simplicity  and  purity  of 
christian  faith  had  decayed:  men  of  no  religious  solici 
tude  naturally  conformed  themselves  to  the  habits  of 

*  I  say  the  Romans;   for  in  other  parts  of  the  west,  we  shall  see,  th-at 
some  opposition  was  made  to  idolatry, 
t  Fleury,  b.  x4ii.  1.  vol.  v. 


15G 

the  times,  and  persons  of  some  concern  for  the  soul  had 
been  so  long  trammeled  m  a  variety  of  superstitions 
for  the  relief  of  conscience,  and  the  true  relief  of 
Christ's  atonement  was  so  little  understood  and  re- 
lished, that  the  emperor  was  evidently  in  the  minority 
through  the  christian  world.  As  yet  no  synods  had 
given  a  sanction  to  image  worship.  Precedents  of  an- 
tiquity were  intirely  against  it.  The  word  of  God, 
which  ought  to  have  influenced  the  minds  of  men 
infinitely  more  than  either,  was  in  full  opposition 
to  the  practice;  but  so  deeply  had  error  prevailed; 
so  convenient  did  wicked  men  find  it  to  commute 
for  the  indulgence  of  their  crimes,  by  a  zealous 
attachment  to  the  idolatrous  externals;  and  so  lit- 
tle was  the  scripture  then  read  or  studied,  that 
the  subjects  of  Leo  murmured  against  him,  as  a 
tyrant  and  a  persecutor.  Even  Germanus,  the  bishop 
of  Constantinople,  with  equal  zeal  and  ignorance  as- 
serted, that  images  had  always  been  used  in  the 
church,  and  declared  his  determination  to  oppose  the 
emperor  at  all  events.  It  is  not  necessary  to  give  a  de- 
tail of  the  paltry  evasions  and  frivolous  arguments, 
with  which  he  endeavoured  to  support  the  idolatry. 
Desirous,  however,  of  strengthening  himself  against 
the  emperor,  he  wrote  to  the  bishop  of  Rome,  who 
warmly  supported  the  same  cause,  and  by  reasonings 
of  the  same  nature.  Never  was  a  more  instructive 
lesson  given  to  pastors,  to  teach  the  word  of  God  in 
simplicity  and  faithfulness.  Conscience  will  be  dis- 
quieted at  times  in  men  not  altogether  given  up  to  a 
reprobate  mind;  and,  if  peace  by  Jesus  Christ,  through 
faith  alone,  be  not  sedulously  preached,  men  distress- 
ed for  their  sins  will  flee  to  idolatry  with  all  their 
might,  which  will  give  them  a  false  peace,  and  con- 
firm them  in  sinful  practices.  By  the  knowledge  of 
Christ  crucified  alone,  can  we  be  brought  to  a  sound 
peace  of  conscience,  and  be  constrained  effectually  to 
serve  God  and  our  neighbour  in  love.  We  have  often 
seen  this  connexion  of  doctrine  and  practice  in  the 
course  of  this  history,  and  we  are  now  stating  the  re- 


157 

verse  of  the  picture.  Nor  can  the  spirit  and  principles 
of  those  christians,  who  supported  divine  truth  in  the 
world,  be  so  clearly  understood  without  some  know- 
ledge of  the  real  grounds  of  popery^. 

He  who  filled  the  Roman  see  at  that  time  was  Gre- 
gory the  second,  whom  for  his  open  defence  and  sup- 
port of  idolatry,  I  shall  venture  to  call  the  first  pope 
of  Rome.  Many  superstitions  and  abuses  had  been 
growing;*  and  since  the  decease  of  Gregory  I.  I  have 
for  the  most  part  been  silent  concerning  the  Roman 
bishops,  because  very  little  of  godliness  appeared 
among  them.  The  most  honourable  part  of  their  con- 
duct related  to  the  encouragement  of  missions  and 
the  propagation  of  the  gospel  among  the  gentiles;  in 
which,  many,  who  were  actuated  by  the  same  spirit 
as  those,  who  had  been  sent  by  Gregory  I,  were  suc- 
cessful in  their  provinces;  and  pure  religion,  in  the 
fundamentals,  at  least,  was  extended  into  distant  re- 
gions, while  Rome  and  Italy  grew  more  and  more 
corrupt.  The  open  avowal,  however,  of  idolatry,  was 


*  One  will  deserve  to  be  specified,  as  it  marks  the  decline  from  evan-. 
gelical  purity  of  doctrine.  It  was  not  nntil  the  days  of  this  Gregory,  that 
churchyards  had  a  beg'innintc  The  dead  had  been  usually  interred  near 
the  hi£!;hways,  according-  to  the  Roman  laws,  and  christian  con^rej^ations 
had  followed  the  piactice;  at  least,  they  had  burial  places  remote  from 
the  city.  But,  in  Gregory's  time,  the  priests  and  monks  began  to  offer 
prayers  for  the  deceased,  and  received  gifts  from  the  relations  for  the 
perf  irniance  of  these  services;  on  which  account  these  ecclesiastics  re« 
quested  have  of  Gregory,  that  the  dead  might  be  interred  near  the 
places  of  tlie  monks'  abode,  or  in  the  churches  or  monasteries;  that  the 
relations  might  have  a  better  opportunity  of  joining  in  the  funeral  devo* 
tions.  Cuthbert,  archbishop  of  Canterbury,  introduced  the  custom  into 
England  in  750;  hence  the  origin  of  churchyards  in  this  island  used  as 
burial  grounds.  The  practice  itself  is  certainly  innocent;  though  its 
first  origin  was  extremely  superstitious.  The  attentive  reader  will  judge 
hence  of  the  progress  of  the  doctrine  of  purgatory,  and  the  avarice  of  the 
ecclesia.stics  connected  with  it;  above  all,  of  men's  departure  from  the 
artJcle  of  justification;  which,  if  it  liad  remained  in  any  degree  of  purity 
in  the  church,  would  have  effectually  excluded  these  abominations.  See 
Newcome's  Hist,  of  the  Abbey  of  St.  Albans,  p.  109.  While  men  rested 
in  Christ,  and  dared  to  behold  themselves  complete  in  him,  they  had  no 
temptation  to  apply  to  the  false  refuges  of  prayers  for  the  departed.  In 
the  article  of  death  they  committed  their  souls  and  bodies  to  their  Sa- 
viour. That  hope  of  glory  being  lost,  they  struggled,  in  vain,  through 
life,  with  doubts  and  fears,  and  departing  in  uncertainty,  left  to  the  cha- 
rity of  friends  to  eke  their  supposed  defect  of  merit,  and  "  fovmd  no  end, 
in  wandering  mazes  lost." 

Vol.  III.  21 


158 

reserved  for  Gregory  II,  and  from  this  time  I  look  on 
the  bishops  of  Rome  as  antichrist. 

Rebellion  trode  on  the  heels  of  idolatry.  Greece  and 
its  neighbouring  islands  opposed  the  emperor,  and  set 
up  an  usurper,  so  infatuated  were  men  with  image 
worship.  But  the  rebels  were  routed;  and  the  usurper 
was  taken  and  beheaded. 

Leo  has  been  so  blackened  by  contemporary  wri- 
ters, that  it  is  not  easy  to  form  a  just  idea  of  his  cha- 
racter, 1  he  same  observation  may  be  extended  to  his 
son  and  successor,  on  the  same  account.  All  that  can 
be  advanced  with  certainty  is,  that  his  cause  was  just, 
and  his  zeal  sincere,  though  his  temper  was  too  warm. 
He  might  be  a  pious  christian;  there  is  doubtless  no 
proof  to  the  contrary.  He  not  only  condemned  the 
worshipping  of  images,  but  also  rejected  relics  and 
the  intercession  of  saints.  But  there  lived  none  at  that 
time  capable  of  doing  justice  to  the  holiness  of  his 
motives,  if  indeed,  as  there  is  reason  to  hope,  they 
were  holy. 

In  the  year  730  he  published  an  edict  against 
images,  and,  after  having  in  vain  endeavoured  to  bring 
over  Germanus  to  his  view^s,  he  deposed  him,  and  set 
up  Anastasius  in  his  room,  who  supported  the  empe- 
ror. There  was  a  porch  in  the  palace  of  Constantino- 
ple, in  which  was  an  image  of  Christ  on  the  cross. 
Leo,  who  saw  that  it  had  been  made  an  engine  of  ido- 
latry, sent  an  officer  to  pull  it  down.  Some  women, 
who  were  there,  entreated  that  it  might  be  spared,  but 
in  vain.  The  officer  mounted  a  ladder  and  struck 
three  blow^s  with  a  hatchet  on  the  face  of  the  figure, 
when  the  women  threw  him  down  by  pulling  away  the 
ladder,  and  murdered  him  on  the  spot:*  however,  the 


*  This  first  instance  of  idolatrous  zeal  vliicli  occurs  in  Christendom, 
shows  that  the  worshippers  ofimaijes  naturally  connect  the  idea  of  sanc- 
tity with  the  wood  or  stone;  and  therefore  the  charge  of  literally  wor- 
shippin,2j  inanimate  matter,  which  the  scriptures  make  a.cainst  pag'-an 
idolaters,  is  just  when  applied  to  popish.  By  an  induction  from  particu- 
lars, it  were  easy  to  prove,  that  the  cases  are  similar,  and,  that  futile 
distinctions  and  evasions  may  equally  be  applied  to  both,  to  cover  and 
soften  what  cannot  be  vindicated  in  either. 


159 

image  was  pulled  clown  and  burnt,  and  a  plain  cross 
set  up  in  its  room;  for  Leo  only  objected  to  the  erec- 
tion of  an  human  fifrure.  The  women  afterwards  in- 
suited  Anastasius,  as  having  profaned  holy  things.  Leo 
put  several  persons  to  death,  who  had  been  concerned 
in  the  murder,  and,  such  was  the  triumph  of  idolatry 
at  length,  that  the  murderers  are  honoured  as  mar- 
tyrs, by  the  Greek  church,  to  this  day!  More  blood 
was  spilt  on  the  occasion,  partly  through  the  vehe- 
mence of  the  emperor^  and  partly  through  the  obsti- 
nacy of  the  idolaters. 

The  news  flew  to  Rome,  where  the  same  rage  for 
idolatry  prevailed,  and  the  emperor's  statues  were 
pulled  down,  and  trodden  under  foot.  Italy  was 
throv/n  into  confusion:  serious  attempts  were  made 
to  elect  another  emperor:  and  the  pope  encouraged 
these  attempts.  He  also  prohibited  the  Italians  from 
paying  tribute  to  Leo  any  longer,  say  the  Greek  wri- 
ters, and  some  of  the  partisans  of  the  Roman  see< 
while  the  French  writers  represent  him  as  endeavour- 
ing to  quell  the  rebellion.  It  is  difficult  to  give  a  fair 
statement  of  Gregory's  conduct  on  this  occasion: 
certain  it  is,  that  his  obstinate  defence  of  idolatry 
actually  fomented  the  rebellion,  and  in  the  end, 
established  the  temporal  power  of  his  successors  on 
the  ruins  of  the  imperial  authority.*  His  conduct 
was  indirectly  rebellious,  if  it  was  not  directly  so; 
for  he  wrote  to  Anastasius,  that  if  he  did  not  return 
to  the  catholic  faith,  he  should  be  deprived  of  his 
disrnitv.t  Grearorv  must  have  known,  that  this 
was,  in  eifect,  to  oppose  the  emperor  himself.  This 
was  one  of  the  last  acts  of  the  Roman  prelate.  He  was 
succeeded  by  Gregory  III.  who  wrote  to  the  emperor 
in  these  arrogant  terms.  "  Because  you  are  unlearned 
and  ignorant,  we  are  obliged  to  write  to  you  rude 
discourses,  but  full  of  sense  and  the  word  of  God. 
VVe  conjure  you  to  quit  your  pride,  and  hear  us  with 
humility.    You  say  that  we  adore  stones,  walls,  and 


*  See  Mosheim,  cent.  viii.  t..  \v.. 
t  Fieury,  c.  3diL.  7. 


160 

boards.  It  is  not  so,  my  lord;  but  those  symbols  make 
us  recollect  the  persons  whose  names  they  bear,  and 
exalt  our  groveling  minds.  We  do  not  look  upon 
them  as  gods;  but  if  it  be  the  image  of  Jesus,'  we 
say,  "  Lord,  help  us."  If  it  be  the  image  of  his  mo- 
ther, we  say,  *'  pray  to  your  Son  to  save  us.'*  If  it  be 
of  a  martyr,  we  say,  "  St.  Stephen,  pray  for  us."*^ 
"  We  might,  as  having  the  power  of  St.  Peter,  pro- 
nounce punishments  against  you;  but  as  you  have 
pronounced  the  curse  upon  yourself,  let  it  stick  to 
you.  You  write  to  us  to  assemble  a  general  council; 
of  which  there  is  no  need.  Do  you  cease  to  persecute 
images,  and  all  will  be  quiet.  We  fear  not  your 
threats;  for  if  we  go  a  league  from  Rome,  tow'ard 
Campania,  w^e  are  secure."  Certainly  this  is  the  lan- 
guage of  antichrist,  supporting  idolatry  by  pretences 
to  infallibility,  and  despising  both  civil  magistrates 
and  ecclesiastical  councils. 

I  cannot  do  justice  to  Leo,  because  we  have  not 
his  answers  to  the  pope.  But  perhaps  the  language  of 
Gregory  will  enable  the  reader  for  himself  to  vindicate 
the  emperor.  It  is  not  to  be  wondered  at,  that  Leo 
refused  to  have  any  farther  intercourse  with  the  Ro- 
man prelate.  In  732,  Gregory,  in  a  council,  excom- 
municated all,  who  should  remove  or  speak  contemp- 
tuously of  images.  And  Italy  being  now  in  a  state  of 
rebellion,  Leo  fitted  out  a  fleet,  which  he  sent  thither; 
but  it  was  wrecked  in  the  Adriatic.  He  continued, 
however,  to  enforce  his  edict  against  images  in  the 
east,  while  the  patrons  of  the  fashionable  idolatry  sup- 

•  From  these  specimens  the  reader  may  jud^e  Mhether  the  pope  or  the 
emperor  was  better  acquainted  with  the  scripture.  A  pagan  philosopher 
would  have  defended  gentile  idolatry  much  in  the  same  manner;  and  the 
dependence,  which  both  the  pagan  and  the  papist  place  on  the  image, 
demonstrates,  that  they  imagine  the  power  of  tlie  saint  or  demon  to  be 
intimately  connected  with  the  image,  which  represents,  as  it  were,  the 
body,  of  which  the  object  of  their  worship  is  the  soul,  so  justly  do  the 
scriptures  describe  idolaters  as  literally  worshipjiing  the  works  of  their 
own  hands,  and  the  man  of  sin  as  worshipping  demons  (1  Tim.  iv.)  So- 
phistry may  evade,  but  it  cannot  confute  When  men  cease  to  hold  the 
head  and  to  be  satisfied  with  Christ  as  their  all,  they  fall  into  these  or 
similar  errors.  The  heart,  which  feels  not  the  want  of  the  living  God,  sti^ 
its  proper  nutriment,  will  feed  on  the  ashes  of  idolatry. 


161 

ported  it  by  various  sophisms.  In  all  his  conduct 
Giegory  now  acted  like  a  temporal  prince:  he  bup- 
ported  a  rebellious  duke  against  Luitprand,  king  of 
the  Lombards,  his  master,  and  fearing  the  vengeance 
of  the  latter,  he  applied  to  Charles  Martel,  mayor  of 
the  palace  in  France,*  offering  to  withdraw  his  obe- 
dience from  the  emperor,  and  give  the  consulship  of 
Rome  to  Charles,  if  he  would  take  him  under  his 
protection.!  Charles,  however,  by  his  wars  with  the 
Saracens,  was  prevented  from  complying  with  the 
pope's  request.  But  he  left  his  power  and  ambitious 
views  to  his  son  and  successor  Pepin.  Charles,  Gre- 
gory, and  Leo,  all  died  in  the  same  year  741,  and  left 
to  their  successors  the  management  of  their  respective 
views  and  contentions. 

Constantine  Copronymus  inherited  his  father  Leo's 
zeal  against  images:  and,  as  both  the  east  and  the  west 
were  precipitating  themselves  into  idolatry,  hence  nei- 
ther of  these  princes  have  met  with  a  fair  and  impar- 
tial historian.!  The  Arabians  persecuted  the  chris- 
tians in  the  mean  time  with  unrelenting  barbarity  in 
the  east,  while  the  real  church  of  God  was  desolated 
on  all  sides,  and  suffered  equally  from  enemies  with- 
out and  within  her  pale.  Zachary  was  the  next  pope 
after  Gregory  III,  an  aspiring  politician,  who  fomented 
discord  among  the  Lombards,  and,  by  his  intrigues, 
obtained  from  the  king  Luitprand  an  addition  to  the 
patrimony  of  the  church.  The  Roman  prelates  had 
ceased  to  worship  God  in  spirit  and  in  truth,  and  were 
now  become  mere  secular  princes. 

Zachary  showed  how  well  he  merited  the  title  of  a 
temporal  governor.  He  had  the  address  to  preserve 
stiii  d  nominal  subjection  to  the  Greek  emperor,  while 

*  This  is  he  wlio  hud  stopped  the  progress  of  the  Saracen  arms.  Mayol* 
of  the  palace,  was  the  title  of  the  prime  minister  in  France,  who  during 
the  reigns  of  a  succession  of  weak  princes,  governed  with  sovereign 
power. 

f  This  shows  that  the  charge  of  rebellion  against  the  emperor  is  not 
unjiistl}'  made  against  this  pope 

\  Thf-ophaiies  relates  some  ridiculous  things  of  Copronymus,  which  only 
prove  the  strength  of  his  own  preituUces.  p.  S-IG,  and  Fleury  follows  him 
ashisguid'" 


162 

he  seized  all  the  power  of  the  Roman  dukedom  for 
himself,  and  looked  out  for  a  protector  both  against 
his  lawful  sovereign  and  against  the  Lombards.  This 
was  Pepin,  the  son  and  successor  of  Charles  Martel  in 
France,  who  sent  a  case  of  conscience  to  be  resolved 
by  the  pope,  namely,  whether  it  would  be  just  in  him- 
self to  depose  his  sovereign  Childeric  III,  and  to  reign 
in  his  room?*  Zachary  was  not  ashamed  to  answer  in 
the  affirmative:  Pepin  then  threw  his  master  into  a 
monastery,  and  assumed  the  title  of  king.  Zachary 
died  soon  after,  viz.  in  the  year  752. 

The  Greek  emperor  was  unable  to  cope  with  the 
subtlety  of  the  pope  and  the  violence  of  the  Lombards. 
Ravenna  the  capital  of  his  dominions  in  Italy  was  taken 
by  king  Astulphus,  who  had  succeeded  Rachis,  the 
successor  of  Luitprand.  This  government,  called  the 
exarchate,  had  lasted  in  Italy  about  a  hundred  and 
fourscore  years.  Stephen,  the  successor  of  Zachary, 
finding  the  superior  strength  of  the  Lombards,  now 
solicited  the  aid  of  Constantine,  who  was  too  much 
employed  in  the  east,  to  send  any  forces  into  Italy.  In 
the  year  754,  the  emperor  held  a  council  of  338  bi- 
shops, Xq  decide  the  controversy  concerning  images. 
They  express  themselves  not  improperly  on  the  na- 
ture of  the  heresy. t  "  Jesus  Christ,"  say  they,  "  hath 
delivered  us  from  idolatry,  and  hath  taught  us  to  adore 
him  in  spirit  and  in  truth.  But  the  devil  not  being  able 
to  endure  the  beauty  of  the  church,  hath  insensibly 
brought  back  idolatry  under  the  appearance  of  Chris- 
tianity, persuading  men  to  worship  the  creature,  and 
to  take  for  God  a  work,  to  which  they  give  the  name 
of  Jesus  Christ." 

Reinforced  by  the  decrees  of  this  council  against 
image  worship,  Constantine  burnt  the  images,  and  de- 

•  Fleiiry,  xliii.  1.  calls  liim  a  weak  and  contemptible  prince.  So  the 
French  kings  had  been  for  some  time.  But  Greij^oi-y  I.  would  have  told 
Pepin,  that  the  weakness  of  tlie  sovereign's  faculties  gave  the  servant  no 
viglit  to  usurp  the  master's  authority.  Gregory  feared  God:  whereas 
idolatry  had  hardened  the  hearts  of  these  pope.?,  and  left  them  no  lawbii* 
r.heir  ewn  insatiable  ambition. 

I  Fleury,  xliii,  T 


163 

molished  the  walls,  which  were  painted  with  represen- 
tations of  Christ  or  the  saints;  and  seemed  determined 
to  exterminate  all  the  vestiges  of  idolatry.  In  the  mean 
time,  in  Italy,  Stephen  pressed  by  the  victorious  arms 
of  Astulphus,  applied  himself  to  Pepin,  and  wrote  to 
all  the  French  dukes,  exhorting  them  to  succor  St. 
Peter,  and  promising  them  the  remission  of  their 
sins,  a  hundred  fold  in  this  world,  and  in  the  world  to 
come  life  everlasting.  So  rapidly  advanced  the  pope- 
dom! A  letter  now  was  brought  to  the  pope  from  the 
emperor,  ordering  him  to  go  to  Astulphus,  and  de- 
mand the  restitution  of  Ravenna.  Superstition  was 
every  where  so  strong,  that  there  was  no  danger  in- 
curred by  such  a  step;  and  the  weakness  of  the  em- 
peror, and  the  distraction  of  his  affairs  allowed  him  not 
to  give  any  other  sort  of  succor  to  Italy,  Stephen  sent 
to  the  king  of  the  Lombards,  to  demand  a  pass.  This 
was  granted,  and  he  set  out  from  Rome,  to  go  to  As- 
tulphus. A  short  time  before  he  undertook  this  jour- 
ney, messengers  had  arrived  to  him  from  Pepin,  en- 
couraging him  to  go  along  with  them  into  France. 
Stephen  arrived  at  Pavia,  the  capital  of  Lombardy, 
and,  after  an  ineffectual  interview  with  the  king,  went 
into  France,  where  Pepin  treated  him  with  all  possible 
respect,  and  promised  to  undertake  an  expedition  into 
Italy  to  relieve  the  Roman  see.  Stephen  anointed  with 
oil  the  king  of  the  Franks;  and,  by  the  authority  of 
St.  Peter,  forbade  the  French  lords,  on  pain  of  excom- 
munication, to  choose  a  king  of  another  race.  *► 
Thus  did  these  two  ambitious  men  support  one 
another  in  their  schemes  of  rapacity  and  injustice.  In 
the  pope  the  evil  was  aggravated  by  the  pretence  of 
religion.*  "  It  is  you,"  says  Stephen,  "  whom  God 
hath  chosen  for  this  purpose  by  his  prescience  from 

•  Fleurj',  a  much  better  divine  tlian  Stephen,  is  struck  with  the  absur- 
dity of  the  allusion,  xliii.  15.  If  I  am  somevthat  more  secular  in  this  nar- 
ration than  in  general,  the  importance  of  the  subject,  which  is  notliing 
less  than  the  establisliment  of  the  papal  power,  and  the  vindication  ol 
faithful  witnesses,  who  from  at^e  to  a,<;e  protested  ag-ainst  it,  may  afford  a 
sufficient  apolog'y.  Popery  once  established,  I  shall  not  so  minutely  attend 
her  steps,  but  seek  the  children  of  God,  wherever  they  are  to  be  found. 


164 

all  eternity.  For  whom  he  hath  predestinated,  them 
he  also  called;  and,  whom  he  called,  them  he  also  jus- 
tified." It  must  be  owned,  that  Stephen  was  fitter  to 
conduct  a  negotiation,  than  to  expound  a  text. 

Pepin  attacked  Astiilphus  so  vigorously,  that,  in 
the  end,  he  obliged  him  to  deliver  the  exarchate,  that 
is  Ravenna,  and  twenty-one  cities  besides,  to  the  pope. 
Constantine,  alarmed  at  the  danger  of  his  dominions 
in  Italy,  sent  an  embassy  to  king  Pepin,  to  press  him 
to  deliver  the  exarchate  to  its  rightful  sovereign:  but 
in  vain.  In  the  issue,  the  pope  became  the  proprietor 
of  Ravenna  and  its  dependencies,  and  added  rapacity 
to  his  rebelhon. 

From  this  time  he  not  only  assumed  the  tone  of 
infallibility  and  spiritual  dominion,  but  became  lite- 
rally a  temporal  prince.  On  the  death  of  Astulphus, 
Dcbiderius,  duke  of  Tuscany,  in  order  to  obtain  the 
succession,  promised  Stephen,  to  deliver  to  him  some 
other  cities,  which  the  Lombards  had  taken  from  the 
emperor.  Stephen  embraced  the  offer  without  hesita- 
tion, assisted  Desiderius  in  his  views,  and  obtained 
for  the  popedom  the  dutchy  of  Ferrara,  and  two  other 
fortresses.  The  injured  emperor,  in  the  mean  time, 
continued  to  exterminate  idolatry  in  the  east;  but, 
whether  his  motives  were  pious  or  not,  our  ignorance 
of  his  private  character  will  not  suffer  us  to  ascertain. 
The  ambitious  and  successful  Stephen  held  the  pope- 
dom five  years,  and  died  in  757.  His  successor  Paul, 
even  before  his  appointment  to  that  dignity,  had  taken 
care  to  cultivate  the  friendship  and  secure  the  protec- 
tion of  Pepin.  The  maritime  parts  of  Italy  still  obey- 
ed the  emperor,  and  these,  together  with  the  Lom- 
bards, threatened  the  pope,  from  time  "to  time;  whence 
he  was  induced  to  write  frequently  to  the  king  of 
France  for  assistance.* 

Constantine  forbade  every  where  the  addressing  of 
prayers  to  the  virgin  Mary,  or  to  other  saints,  and 
discountenanced  the  monks  through  his  dominions. 

•  It  is  remarkable,  that  Fleury  blames  this  pope  for  representing  his 
secular  aftairs  as  if  they  were  spiritual,  p.  31. 


165 

He  is  said  to  have  treated  the  worshippers  of  images 
with  great  barbarity,  and  to  have  been  profane  and 
vicious  in  his  own  practice.  Bat  such  censures  were 
the  natural  and  obvious  effect  of  his  conduct. 

In  the  year  768  died  Pepin,  the  great  supporter  of 
the  popedom.  Its  grandeur  was,  however,  not  yet 
arrived  at  maturity.  Adrian,  who  was  elected  pope  in 
772,  was  not  inferior  to  his  predecessors  in  the  arts  of 
ambitious  intrigue.  He  received  the  homage  of  Rieti 
and  Spoleto,  towns  of  Lombardy,  and  allowed  them 
to  choose  a  duke  among  themselves.  Partly  by  these 
means,  and  still  more  by  the  powerful  alliance  of 
Charles,  the  son  and  successor  of  Pepin,  commonly 
called  Charlemagne  for  his  great  exploits,  he  strength- 
ened himself  against  the  hostilities  of  king  Desiderius. 
He  received  from  the  French  king  a  confirmation  of 
Pepin's  donative  of  the  exarchate,  with  some  consi- 
derable additions  of  territory.  The  friendship  of  am- 
bitious men  is  cemented  by  views  of  interest.  This 
was  exactly  the  case  of  Charles  and  Adrian.  The  for- 
mer derived  from  the  sacred  character  of  the  latter 
the  most  substantial  addition  to  his  reputation  in  a 
superstitious  age,  and  was  enabled  to  expel  Deside- 
rius intirely  from  his  dominions.  In  the  year  774,  he 
assumed  the  title  of  king  of  France  and  Lombardy. 
The  last  king  of  the  Lombards  was  sent  into  a  mon- 
astery in  France,  where  he  ended  his  days.  In  the 
next  year,  the  emperor  Constantine  died,  after  having 
vigorously  opposed  image  worship  all  his  reign.  At 
the  same  time  also  died  the  mahometan  calif  A1-. 
mansor,  the  founder  of  Bagdad,  which  from  that  time 
became  the  residence  of  the  Saracen  monarchs;  whose 
empire  then  began  to  carry  more  the  appearance  of  a 
regular  government,  and  ceased  to  be  so  troublesome 
to  the  remains  of  the  old  Roman  empire,  as  it  had 
formerly  been. 

Leo,  the  son  and  successor  of  Constantine,  trode  in 
the  steps  of  his  father  and  grandfather,  and  exercised 
severities  on  the  supporters  of  image  worship.  But. 

Vol.  III.  22 


166 

as  he  died  in  the  year  780,*  his  wife  Irene  assumed 
the  government  in  the  name  of  her  son  Constantine, 
who  was  only  ten  years  old.  She  openly  and  zealously 
supported  idolatry.  The  east  was  so  eagerly  addicted 
to  it,  that  there  wanted  only  the  authority  of  a  sove- 
reign to  render  it  triumphant.  Images  gained  the  as- 
cendency; and  the  monastic  life,  which  either  the  piety 
or  the  prudence  of  three  emperors,  (for  I  cannot  as- 
certain their  real  character,)  had  much  discouraged, 
became  again  victorious  in  Greece  and  Asia.f 

In  784  Irene  wrote  to  Adrian,  desiring  his  presence 
at  a  council  to  be  held  for  the  support  of  image  wor- 
ship; at  least  that  he  would  send  legates  to  it.  Tara- 
sius,  bishop  of  Constantinople,  just  appointed,  and 
perfectly  harmonizing  widi  the  views  of  the  empress, 
wrote  to  the  same  purport.  Adrian's  answer  is  worthy 
of  a  pope.  He  expresses  his  joy  at  the  prospect  of  the 
establishment  of  image  worship;  and  at  the  same  time, 
testifies  his  displeasure  at  the  presumption  of  Tarasius, 
in  calling  himself  universal  patriarch:  he  demands  the 
restoration  of  St.  Peter's  patrimony,  which  during  the 
schism,  the  emperors  of  Constantinople  had  withheld; 
and  sets  before  the  empress  the  munificent  pattern  of 
Charlemagne,  who  had  given  to  the  Roman  church, 
to  be  enjoyed  forever,  provinces,  cities,  and  castles, 
once  in  possession  of  the  Lombards,  but  which  of 
right  belonged  to  St,  Peter.  Ambition  and  avarice 
were  thus  covered  with  the  thin  veil  of  superstition. 
But  this  was  the  age  of  clerical  usurpations.  Large 
domains  were  now  commonly  annexed,  by  supersti- 
tious princes,  to  the  church,  for  the  pardon  of  their 
sins;  but  the  pope  was  the  greatest  gainer  by  this 
traffic.  That,  which  is  most  to  our  purpose  to  observe, 
is  the  awful  departure,  which  had  commonly  been 
made,  throughout  Christendom,  from  the  aliimpor- 
tant  article  of  justification.  While  this  is  firmly  be- 

*  Fleury,  xliv.  16. 

f  If  the  plan,  on  which  I  have  chosen  to  write  a  church  history,  need 
the  axithority  of  any  writer  to  support  it,  the  words  of  Fleury  are  very 
decisive.  B.  xliv.  17-  "  The  temporal  afF'airs  of  the  church,  nay,  of  the 
Roman  church,  do  not  belong  to  an  ecclesiastical  history." 


167 

lieved  and  reverenced,  it  is  impossible  for  men  to 
think  of  commuting  for  their  offences  with  heaven; 
and  it  is  itself  the  surest  defence  against  clerical  en- 
croachments, superstition,  idolatry,  and  hypocrisy.  But 
the  pulpits  were  silent  on  this  doctrine :  during  this 
whole  century,  false  religion  grew  without  any  check 
or  molestation;  and  vices,  both  in  public  and  private 
life,  increased  in  proportion. 

In  the  year  787  the  second  council  of  Nice  was  held 
under  the  empress:  and,  of  such  a  council  it  is  suffi- 
cient to  say,  that  it  confirmed  idolatrous  worship. 
Pope  Adrian,  having  received  the  acts  of  the  council, 
sent  them  to  Charlemagne,  that  he  might  procure  the 
approbation  of  the  bishops  of  the  west.  But  here  his 
expectations  were  disappointed.  United  in  politics  by 
the  coincidence  of  interested  views,  they  were  how- 
ever found  to  disagree  in  religious  sentiments.  Char- 
lemagne, though  illiterate  himself,  was  one  of  the 
greatest  patrons  of  learning:  and,  if  he  may  be  sup- 
posed to  have  been  in  earnest  in  any  opinions,  he 
would  naturally  be  much  influenced  by  the  famous 
Alcuin,  an  Englishman,  whom  he  cherished  and  es- 
teemed. The  customs  and  habits  of  the  west  were  far 
from  universally  favouring  the  reigning  idolatry.  I 
am  anxiously  looking  for  the  features  of  the  church 
of  Christ  in  this  very  gloomy  period,  and  seem  to 
think  that  her  existence  \Vas  most  probably  to  be 
found  in  the  churches  lately  planted,  or,  in  those, 
which  were  then  in  an  infant  state.  Our  own  island 
was  decidedly,  at  that  time,  against  idolatry.  The 
British  churches  execrated  the  second  council  of 
Nice;*^  and  some  even  of  the  Italian  bishops  protested 
against  the  growing  evil.  Nor  is  it  probable,  that  the 
churches  of  Germany,  now  forming,  were  at  all  dis- 
posed to  receive  it.  Men,  who  first  receive  Christianity 
from  zealoiis  teachers,  are  simple  and  sincere;  nor  is 
it  easy  to  convince  an  ingenuous  person,  that  idolatry, 
however  qualified  or  explained,  is  allowable  on  the 

*  Hoveden  Annal.  pars  prior,  p.  232.  Usher  Annals,  p.  19,  20.  The  for- 
mer of  these  writers  tells  us,  tliat  Alcuin  composed  the  Carolin  books. 


168 

plan  of  the  scriptures,  either  of  the  old  or  new  tes- 
tament. France  itself  had,  as  yet,  shown  no  disposi- 
tion positively  in  favour  of  idolatry.  The  Roman  see 
alone,  in  Europe,  had  in  form  supported  and  defended 
it.  And  experience  proves,  that  the  greatest  stages  of 
degeneracy  are  to  be  found  in  the  churches,  which 
have  subsisted  the  longest. 

Charlemagne  could  not  but  be  struck  at  the  discor- 
dancy of  the  Nicene  council  with  the  habits  of  the  west; 
and  was  therefore  so  far  from  receiving,  with  implicit 
faith,  the  recommendation  of  it  by  pope  Adrian,  that 
he  ordered  the  bishops  of  the  west  to  examine  the 
merits  of  the  question.  The  issue  was,  the  publication 
of  the  Carolin  books,  in  which  the  famous  Alcuin  had 
at  least  a  distinguished  share.  In  these  the  authors 
find  fault  with  a  former  synod  held  in  Greece,  under 
Constantine,  which  forbade  the  use  of  images.  For 
they  held  the  dangerous  opinion  of  Gregory  ist,  name- 
ly, that  these  might  be  set  up  in  churches,  and  serve 
as  books  for  the  instruction  of  the  people.  But  they 
condemn,  in  very  free  terms,  the  late  Grecian  synod, 
which  enjoined  the  worship  of  images.  They  find  fiiult 
with  the  flattering  addresses  made  by  the  Greek  bi- 
shops to  pope  Adrian.  They  allow  the  primacy  of  St. 
Peter's  see,  but  are  far  from  founding  their  faith  on 
the  pope's  decrees.  They  condemn  the  worship  of 
images  by  scriptural  arguments,  by  no  means  imper- 
tinent or  contemptible,  but  which  there  is  no  occasion 
for  me  to  repeat.* 

Engilbert,  the  ambassador  of  Charles,  presented 
these  books  to  Adrian.  This  ambitious  politician,  who 
subsisted  by  the  protection  of  Charlemagne,  and  who 
was  concerned  to  maintain  the  honour  of  his  see,  re- 
plied with  great  prudence.  It  is  evident,  from  his 
whole  conduct,  that  his  object  was  the  temporal  inte- 
rests of  the  popedom.  Hence  his  answer  to  Charles 
was  tame  and  insipid,  and  his  defence  of  image  wor- 
ship weak  and  inconclusive. f  Charles  and  the  French 

*  See  Du  Pin,  Councils  of  8th  Century, 
t  This  is  allowed  by  Du  Pin.  Ibid. 


169 
•  

churches  persevered  in  their  own  middle  practice: 
they  used  images,  but  they  abhorred  the  adoration  of 
them.  In  the  year  794,  at  Frankfort  upon  the  Maine, 
a  synod  was  held,  consisting  of  300  bishops,  who  con- 
demned the  second  council  of  Nice,  and  the  worship 
of  images.  In  this  synod,  Paulinus,  bishop  of  Aqui- 
leia,  in  Italy,  bore  some  share.  Adrian,  however,  con- 
tinued on  good  terms  with  Charlemagne,  to  the  death 
of  the  former,  which  took  place  before  the  close  of  the 
century,  when  he  was  succeeded  by  Leo  III.  Political 
intrigue,  and  secular  artifice,  not  theological  study, 
was  then  the  practice  of  Roman  bishops.  The  Irish,  at 
this  time,  particularly  excelled  in  divinity,  travelled 
through  various  countries,  and  became  renowned  for 
knowledge;  and  the  superior  light  of  England  and 
France,  in  the  controversy  concerning  images,  seems 
to  show  both  those  countries,  in  knowledge  and  in  re- 
gard for  the  doctrines  of  scripture,  to  have  been  far  su- 
perior to  Rome.  Yet  so  strongly  were  men  prejudiced 
in  favour  of  the  dignity  of  the  Roman  see,  that  it  still 
remained  in  the  height  of  its  power,  and  was  enabled 
in  process  of  time  to  communicate  its  idolatrous  abo- 
minations through  Europe.  In  the  east  the  worship  of 
images  was  triumphant,  but  as  yet  not  universal.* 

This  chapter  contains  the  narrative  of  the  most  fatal 
events,  which  the  church  had  ever  seen.  The  arian 
heresy  had  disfigured  and  deeply  wounded  her  consti- 
tution, but  she  had  recovered,  and  confounded  this  ad- 
versary. The  pelagian  poison  had  operated  for  a  time; 
but  its  detection  and  expulsion  had  even  contributed 
to  recover  her  health,  and  to  restore  her  to  a  great  de- 
gree of  apostolical  purity.  Other  heresies,  which  af- 
fected the  doctrine  of  the  trinity,  had  been  successfully 
opposed:  superstition,  for  a  number  of  centuries,  had 
sullied  her  beauty,  but  had  left  her  vitals  untouched. 
Idolatry,  at  length,  aided  by  the  same  superstitious 

*  Irene,  toward  the  close  of  this  century,  dethroned  her  son  Constan- 
tine,  and  put  out  his  eyes  with  such  violence,  that  he  lost  his  life.  This 
monster,  a  worthy  patroness  of  idolatry,  then  reigned  alone,  and  coopera- 
ted witk  the  pope  of  Rome,  in  the  support  of  Satan's  kingdom. 


170 

propensity,  prevailed  to  disunite  her  from  Christ,  her 
livhig  head.  The  reigning  powers  both  in  the  east  and 
the  west,  were  overgrown  with  false  worship:  even 
those  parts  of  the  west,  which  as  yet  were  not  disposed 
to  receive  idolatry,  w^ere  deeply  prepared  for  the  gra- 
dual admission  of  it,  partly  by  the  growing  of  super- 
stition, and  partly  by  the  submission  of  all  the  Euro- 
pean churches  to  the  domination  of  the  Roman  see. 
There  the  seat  of  antichrist  was  firmly  fixed.  Rebel- 
lion against  the  lawful  power  of  the  magistrate,  the 
most  arrogant  claims  to  infallibility,  and  the  support  of 
image  worship,  conspired  with  the  temporal  dominion 
lately  obtained  by  the  bishop  of  Rome,  to  render  him 
the  tyrant  of  the  church.  His  dominions,  indeed,  were 
not  large;  but,  in  conjunction  with  the  proud  preten- 
sions of  his  ecclesiastical  character,  they  gave  him  a 
superlative  dignity  in  the  eyes  of  all  Europe.  It  was 
evident,  that  the  face  of  the  whole  church  was  altered: 
from  the  year  727,  to  about  the  year  2000,  we  have 
the  dominion  of  the  beast;*  and  the  prophesying  of  the 
witnesses  in  sackcloth,  which  was  to  continue  1260  days, 
or  forty  and  two  months,  that  is,  for  lz60  years.  We 
must  now  look  for  the  real  church,  either,  in  distinct  in- 
dividual saints,  who,  in  the  midst  of  popery,  were  pre- 
served by  eflPectual  grace  in  vital  union  with  the  Son  of 
God,  or  in  associations  of  true  christians,  formed  in 
different  regions,  which  were  in  a  state  of  persecution 
and  much  affliction.  Where  then  was  the  church  in 
the  eighth  century?  She  still  subsisted;  and  the  oppo- 
sition made  to  idolatry  by  Charles  and  the  council  of 
Frankfort,  demonstrates  her  existence.  Nothing  but 
the  influence  of  principles  very  opposite  to  those  which 
were  fashionable  at  Rome  can  account  for  such  events 
at  a  time  when  the  dignity  of  the  Roman  see  was  held 
in  universal  veneration.  After  all,  it  is  in  the  propaga- 
tion of  the  gospel  among  the  pagans,  that  the  real 
church  is  chiefly  to  be  seen  in  this  century.  Some  real 
work  of  this  kind  was  carrying  on,  while  the  popedom 

*  Rev.  xi.  and  xiii. 


171 

was  forming;  and,  by  the  adorable  providence  of  God, 
pious  missionaries,  who  entered  not  into  the  recent 
controversies,  but  were  engaged  in  actions  purely  spi- 
ritual, were  patronized  and  supported  in  preaching 
Christ  among  foreign  nations,  by  the  same  popes  of 
Rome  who  were  opposing  his  grace  in  their  own.* 
Their  ambition  led  them  to  cherish  the  zeal  of  the  mis- 
sionaries, but  with  how  different  a  spirit!  To  this 
scene  let  us  now  direct  our  attention. 


CHAP.  IV. 

The  Propagation  of  the  Gospel  in  this  Century^  includ- 
ing the  Life  of  Boniface^  Archbishop  of  Mentz. 

W  ILLIBROD,t  with  other  English  missionaries, 
continued  to  labour  with  success  in  the  conversion  of 
the  Prisons.  His  episcopal  seat  was,  as  we  have  seen, 
at  Utrecht;!  for  fifty  years  he  preached,  founded 
churches  and  monasteries,  and  appointed  new  bishops. 
The  consequence  of  his  labours  was,  that  great  num- 
bers of  pagans  were  received  into  the  pale  of  the 
church. 

The  $  great  light  of  Germany  in  this  century  was 
an  Englishman  named  Winfrid,  born  at  Kirton  in 
Devonshire,  about  the  year  680.  He  was  brought 
up  in  the  monastic  life  from  infancy.  His  residence 
was  in  the  monastery  of  Nutcell,  in  the  diocese  of 
Winchester,  which  was  afterwards  destroyed  by  the 

*  Should  any  persons  startle,  that  I  call  image  worship  by  no  better 
nanne  than  idolatry,  and  rank  pa,i(an  and  papal  practices  in  the  same  class, 
I  would  refer  such  to  the  censure  of  St.  Paul  on  the  Galatians,  iv.  8,  9. 
Idolatry  beinjj  with  them  merely  mental,  originated  in  a  selfrighteous  prin- 
ciple, and  the  apostle  looks  on  them  as  worshippers  of  false  gods,  and  in- 
forms them  that  they  were  returning  again  to  bondage.  How  much  more 
justly  may  image  worship  be  called  "  the  doing  service  to  them  which  b) 
nature  are  no  gods,"  where  the  idolatry  is  both  mental  and  extemaT. 

t  Fleury,  fifth  vol.  xli.  1. 

\  See  page  118  of  this  volume. 

\  Fleury,  xli.  35,  &c.  Alban  Butler,  vol.  6 


172 

Danes,  and  was  never  rebuilt.  Here  he  was  made  ac- 
quainted with  the  sacred  and  secular  learning  of  the 
times.  At  the  age  of  thirty,  he  was  ordained  priest, 
on  the  recommendation  of  his  abbot,  and  laboured 
with  much  zeal  in  preaching  the  word  of  God.  His 
spirit  was  ardent,  and  he  longed  to  be  employed  as  a 
missionary  in  the  conversion  of  pagans.  The  exam- 
ple of  a  number  of  pious  persons  of  his  own  country 
might,  no  doubt,  have  great  influence  with  him;  for 
we  have  seen  already,  that  the  zeal  of  spreading  the 
gospel  was  peculiarly  strong  in  the  British  isles.  He 
went  over  with  two  monks  into  Friezeland  about  the 
year  716.  He  proceeded  to  Utrecht,  *'  to  water, 
where  Willibrod  had  planted;"  but  finding  that 
circumstances  rendered  it  impracticable  at  present  to 
preach  the  gospel  there,  he  returned  into  England,  with 
his  companions,  to  his  monastery. 

On  the  death  of  the  abbot  of  Nutcell,  the  society 
would  have  elected  Winfrid  in  his  room;  but  the 
monk,  steady  to  his  purpose,  refused  to  accept  the 
presidency;  and,  with  recommendatory  letters  from 
the  bishop  of  Winchester,  went  to  Rome,  and  pre- 
sented himself  to  the  pope,  expressing  a  desire  of 
being  employed  in  the  conversion  of  infidels.  Gre- 
gory II.  encouraged  his  zeal,  and  gave  him  a  commis- 
sion of  the  most  ample  and  unlimited  nature  in  the 
year  719, 

With  this  commission  Winfrid  went  into  Bavaria 
and  Thuringia.  In  the  first  country  he  reformed  the 
churches,  in  the  second  he  was  successful  in  the  con- 
version of  infidels.  Here  also  he  observed,  how  true 
religion,  where  it  had  been  planted,  was  almost  de- 
stroyed by  false  teachers:  some  pastors,  indeed,  were 
zealous  for  the  service  of  God,  but  others  were  given 
up  to  scandalous  vices:  the  English  missionary  be- 
held their  state,  and  the  ill  effects  of  it  on  the  people, 
with  sorrow;  and  laboured,  with  all  his  might,  to  re- 
cover them  to  true  repentance. 

It  was  with  sincere  delight,  that  he  afterwards 
learned,  that  the  door,  which  had  been  shut  again'st 


his  first  attempts  in  Friezeland,  was  now  opened  for 
preaching  the  gospel  in  that  country.  Ratboid,  king  of 
the  Frisons,  who  had  planted  idolatry  afresh  among 
his  subjects,  Was  dead,  and  the  obstacles  Were  re- 
moved. Winfrid  returned  into  Friezeland,  and  for 
three  years  cooperated  with  Willibrod.  The  pale  of 
the  church  was  hence  enlarged:  churches  were  erected: 
many  received  the  word  of  God;  and  idolatry  was 
more  and  more  subdued. 

Willibrod,  declining  in  strength  through  old  age, 
chose  Winfrid  for  his  successor.  I  have  before  ob- 
served, that  the  duration  of  his  pastoral  labours,  in  his 
mission,  was  no  less  than  fifty  years.  The  example  of 
this  great  and  holy  person  had  long  before  this  stirred 
up  others  to  labour  in  the  best  of  causes.  Soon  after 
that,  he,  with  eleven  companions  in  690,  had  begun  to 
preach  the  gospel  in  Friezeland,  two  brothers  of  the 
English  nation  went  over  into  the  country  of  the  an- 
cient Saxons,  in  order  to  preach  to  the  idolaters. 
They  were  both  called  Ewald.  They  arrived  in  this 
countr}'  about  the  year  694,  and  meeting  with  a  cer- 
tain steward,  desired  him  to  conduct  them  to  his  lord. 
They  were  employed  all  the  way  in  prayer,  in  singing 
psalms  and  hymns.  The  barbarians  fearing  lest  these 
men  might  draw  their  lord  over  to  Christianity,  mur- 
dered both  the  brothers;  and  thus,  toward  the  close  of 
the  foregoing  century,  it  pleased  God  to  take  to  him- 
self two  persons  who  had  devoted  themselves  to  preach 
the  gospel  of  his  Son  among  the  heathen.  The  time  of 
the  more  peculiar  visitation  of  Germany  was  reserved 
for  the  age  which  we  are  now  reviewing. 

It  must  have  been  extremely  delightful  to  Willi- 
brod, to  have  met  with  a  coadjutor  so  zealous  and  sin- 
cere as  Winfrid.  However,  the  latter  declined  the 
offer,  because  the  pope  had  enjoined  him  to  preach  in 
the  eastern  parts  of  Germany ;  and  he  felt  himself 
bound  to  perform  his  promise.  It  is  not  possible,  in- 
deed, to  couct  ive  such  a  man  as  Gregory  to  have  had 
any  other  views  than  those  of  secular  ambition  in  ex- 
acting this  promise  from  Winfrid.    But  it  seems  also 

Vol.  III.  23 


174 

equally  apparent,  that  the  motives  of  tlie  latter  were 
holy  and  spiritual.  Willibrod  acquiesced  in  Winfrid's 
desires,  atid  dismisi^ed  him  with  his  blessing.  The 
younger  missionary  departed  immediately,  and  came 
into  Hesse,  to  a  place  called  Omcnbourg,  belonging  to 
two  brothers,  who  were  nominal  christians,  but  prac- 
tical idolaters.  Winfrid's  labours  were  successful, 
both  on  them  and  their  subjects:  and,  throughout 
Hesse,  or  at  least  a  very  great  part  of  it,  even  to  the 
confines  of  Saxony,  he  erected  the  standard  of  truth, 
and  upheld  it  with  much  zeal,  to  the  confusion  of  the 
kingdom  of  Satan.  It  ought  not,  however,  to  be  con- 
cealed, that  Winfrid  suffered  great  hardships  hi  a 
country  so  poor  and  uncultivated  as  the  greater  part  of 
Germany  then  was;  that  he  supported  himself  at  times 
by  the  labour  of  his  hands,  and  was  exposed  to  immi- 
nent peril  from  the  rage  of  the  obstinate  pagans. 

After  some  time  he  returned  to  Rome,  was  kindly 
received  by  Gregory  H,  and  was  consecrated  bishop  of 
the  new  German  churches,  by  the  name  of  Boniface. 
There  seems,  even  in  that  little  circumstance,  some- 
thing of  the  policy  of  the  Roman  see.  A  Roman  name 
was  more  likely  to  procure  from  the  German  converts 
respect  to  the  pope,  than  an  English  one.  Gregory, 
moreover,  solicitous  to  preserve  his  dignity,  exacted 
from  the  new  bishop  an  oath  of  subjection  to  the  papal 
authority,  conceived  in  the  strongest  terms;  a  circum- 
stance, remarkably  proving  both  the  ambition  of  Gre- 
gory and  the  superstition  of  the  times.  Boniface  armed 
with  letters  from  the  pope,  and,  what  was  far  better, 
encouraged  by  the  addition  of  fresh  labourers  from 
England,  returned  to  the  scenes  of  his  mission. 
Coming  into  Hesse,  he  confirmed,  by  imposition  of 
hands,  several*  who  had  already  been  baptized,  and 
exerted  himself  with  much  zeal  against  the  idolatrous 
superstitions  of  the  Germans.  An  oak  of  prodigious 
size  had  been  an  instrument  of  much  pagan  delusion: 
his  sincerest  converts  advised  him  to  cut  it  down;  and 

♦  Fleury,  b.  xli.  44,  84c 


175 

he  followed  their  counsel.  It  ought  to  be  observed, 
that  the  famous  Charles  Martel  protected  him  with  his 
eivil  authority;  for  the  dominion  of  the  French  ex- 
tended a  considerable  way  into  Germany.  It  does  not 
appear,  however,  that  Boniface  made  any  other  use  of 
this  circumstance,  than  what  the  most  conscientious 
ecclesiastic  may  do,  wherever  the  christian  religion  is 
established  by  the  laws. 

Daniel,  bishop  of  Winchester,  about  the  year  723, 
wrote  to  Boniface  concerning  the  best  method  of  deal- 
ing with  idolaters.  "  Do  not  contradict,"  says  l;ie,  "  in 
a  direct  manner  their  accounts  of  the  genealogy  of 
their  gods;  allow  that  they  were  born  from  one  ano- 
ther in  the  same  way  as  mankind  are;  this  concession 
will  give  you  the  advantage  of  proving,  that  there  was 
a  time  when  they  had  no  existence.  Ask  them,  w^ho 
governed  the  world  before  the  birth  of  their  gods;  ask 
them,  if  these  gods  have  ceased  to  propagate.  If  they 
have  not,  show  them  the  consequence;  namely,  that 
the  gods  must  be  infinite  in  number,  and  that  no  man 
can  rationally  be  at  ease  in  worshipping  any  of  them, 
lest  he  should,  by  that  means,  offend  one,  who  is  more 
powerful.  Argue  thus  with  them,  not  in  the  way  of 
insult,  but  with  temper  and  moderation;  and  take  op- 
portunities to  contrast  these  absurdities  with  the  chris- 
tian doctrine:  let  the  pagans  be  rather  ashamed  than 
incensed  by  your  oblique  mode  of  stating  these  sub- 
jects.  Show  them  the  insufficiency  of  their  plea  of  an- 
tiquity: inform  them  that  idolatry  did  anciently  prevail 
over  the  world,  but  that  Jesus  Christ  w  as  manifested, 
in  order  to  reconcile  men  to  God  by  his  grace."  Piety 
and  good  sense  appear  to  have  predominated  in  these 
instructions,  and  we  have  here  proofs,  in  addition  to 
those  already  given,  of  the  grace  of  God  conferred  on 
our  ancestors  during  the  Heptarchy. 

Boniface  preserved  a  correspondence  with  other 
friends  in  England,  as  well  as  with  Daniel.  From  his 
native  country  he  was  supplied  also,  as  we  have  seen, 
with  fellow  labourers.  In  Thuringia  he  confirmed  the 


176 

churches,  delivered  them  from  heresies,  and  false  bre- 
thren, and  the  work  still  prospered  in  his  haiid. 

In  the  mean  time,  like  all  upright  and  conscientious 
men,  he  found  himself  often  involved  in  difficuUies, 
and  doubted  in  what  manner  he  should  regulate  his 
conduct  in  regard  to  scandalous  priests,  who  greatly 
obstructed  his  mission.  He  hiid  his  doubts  before  his 
old  friend  the  bishop  of  Winchester.*  Should  he 
avoid  altogether  their  communication?  he  might  of- 
fend the  court  of  France,  without  whose  civil  protec- 
tion he  could  not  proceed  in  his  mission.  Should  he 
preserve  connexion  with  them?  he  was  afraid  of  bring- 
ing guilt  upon  his  conscience.  Daniel  advises  him  to 
endure  with  patience,  what  he  could  not  amend:  he 
counsels  him  not  to  make  a  schism  in  the  church,  un- 
der pretence  of  purging  it;  and,  at  the  same  time,  ex- 
horts him  to  exercise  church  discipline  on  notorious 
offenders. 

Boniface  desired  Daniel  also  to  send  him  the  book 
of  the  prophets,  "  which,"  says  he,  "  the  abbot  Win- 
bert,  formerly  my  master,  left  at  his  death,  written  in 
very  distinct  characters.  A  greater  consolation  in  my 
old  age  I  cannot  receive;  for  I  can  find  no  book  like  it 
in  this  country;  and,  as  my  sight  grows  weak,  I  can- 
not easily  distinguish  the  small  letters,  which  are  join- 
ed close  together,  in  the  sacred  volumes,  which  are 
at  present  in  my  possession."  Do  these  things  seem 
to  belong  to  the  character  of  an  ambitious  and  insi- 
dious ecclesiastic,  or  to  that  of  a  simple  and  upright 
servant  of  Jesus  Christ? 

The  reputation  of  this  saint,  (such  I  shall  venture 
to  call  him  from  the  evidence  of  facts,)  was  spread 
through  the  greatest  part  of  Europe;  and  many  from 
England  poured  into  Germany,  to  connect  themselves 
with  him.  These  dispersed  themselves  in  the  coun- 
try, and  preached  in  the  villages  of  Hesse  and  Thu- 
ringia. 

In  732,  Boniface  received  the  title  of  archbishop, 

*  Bon  if.  ep.  3.     Fleury,  b.  xli.  toward  the  end. 


177 

from  Gregory  III,  who  supported  his  mission  wi^th  the 
same  spirit,  with  which  Gregoiv  II  had,  done.  Encou- 
raged by  a  letter  sent  to  him  from  Rome,  he  proceeded 
to  erect  new  churches,  and  to  extend  the  profession 
of  the  gospel.  At  this  time,  he  found  the  Bavarian 
churches  disturbed  by  an  heretic,  called  Eremvolf, 
who  would  have  seduced  the  people  into  idolatry.  Bo- 
niface condemned  him,  according  to  the  canons,  freed 
the  country  from  his  devices,  and  restored  the  disci- 
pline of  the  church. 

About  the  year  732,  Burchard  and  Lullus  were  in- 
vited from  England  by  Boniface,  who  made  the  for- 
mer bishop  of  Wurtzburg,  where  Kilian  had  preached, 
and  suft'ered  martyrdom,  about  fifty  years  before.  He 
was  abundantly  successful  during  the  labours  of  ten 
years,  by  which  his  strength  was  exhausted:  he  gave 
up  his  bishopric  in  752,  and  died  soon  after.  Butler, 
Vol.  X. 

Some  time  after,  Boniface  wrote  to  Northelme, 
archbishop  of  Canterbur}',  in  a  strain,  which  equally 
shows  the  charity  and  sincerity  of  his  spirit,  and  the 
superstition  of  the  times.*  In  738,  he  again  visited 
Rome,  being  far  advanced  in  life;  and,  after  some 
stay,  he  induced  several  Englishmen,  who  resided 
there,  to  join  with  him  in  his  German  mission.  Re- 
turning into  Bavaria,  by  the  desire  of  duke  Odilo,  he 
restored  the  purity  of  the  faith,  and  prevailed  against 
the  artifices  of  some  seducers,  who  had  done  much 
mischief  both  by  false  doctrine  and  flagitious  exam- 
ple. He  established  three  new  bishoprics  in  the  coun- 
try, at  Saltzburg,  Frisinghen,  and  Ratisbon.  That  of 
Passaw  had  been  fixed  before.  It  must,  however,  be 
observed,  that  the  successes  and  conquests  of  the  Car- 
lovingian  princes  much  facilitated  his  labours  in  Ger- 
many. 

In  writing  to  Cuthbert,  archbishop  of  Canterbury,! 
after  testifying  his  zealous  adherence  to  the  see  of 
Rome,  and  his  submission  to  its  authority,  he  exhorts 

*  Ep.  b.  V.  See  Fleury,  xlii   2?. 
t  Bonif.  e\i.  105.  Fleury,  xlii.  37- 


178 

him  to  discharge  his  duty  faithfully,  notwithstanding 
the  difficulties  to  which  good  pastors  were  exposed. 
"  Let  us  fight,"  says  he,  "  for  the  Lord;  for  we  live  in 
days  of  affliction  and  anguish.  Let  us  die,  if  God  so 
please,  for  the  laws  of  our  fathers,  that  with  them  we 
may  obtain  the  heavenly  inheritance.  Let  us  not  be  as 
dumb  dogs,  sleepy  watchmen,  or  selfish  hirelings,  but 
as  careful  and  vigilant  pastors,  preaching  to  all  ranks, 
as  far  as  God  shall  enable  us,  in  season  and  out  of  sea- 
son, as  Gregory  writes  in  his  Pastoral." 

Adalbert,*  a  Frenchman,  a  proud  enthusiast,  and 
Clement,  a  Scotchman,  pretended  that  Christ,  by  his 
descent  into  hell,  delivered  the  souls  of  the  damned. 
The  former  was  deceived  by  the  most  absurd  and  ex- 
travagant delusions,  and  the  latter  was  infamous  in  life 
and  conversation.  Gevilieb  also,  a  German  bishop,  who 
associated  with  them,  had  actually  committed  murder; 
but  so  ignorant  and  depraved  were  the  rulers  of  the 
German  christians,  that  he  was  still  allowed  to  con- 
tinue a  bishop  without  infamy.  Boniface,  who  saw  the 
evil  of  these  things  more  deeply  than  others,  desired 
that  the  two  former  might  be  imprisoned  by  the  au- 
thority of  duke  Carloman,  and  be  secluded  from  so- 
ciety, that  they  might  not  corrupt  others  by  their  poi- 
sonous sentiments,  and  that  Gevilieb  might  be  deposed 
from  his  bishopric.  He  gained  his  point  in  the  con- 
demnation and  imprisonment  of  the  two  former,  and 
in  the  deposition  of  the  latter.  He,  who  has  no  chari- 
ty for  souls,  and  no  prospects  beyond  those  of  this  life, 
may  harshly  condemn  the  missionary;  but  every  seri- 
ous and  candid  mind  will  applaud  the  sincerity  and 
uprightness  of  his  intentions,  and  will  wish  for  the 
exercise  of  discipline,  though  in  a  manner  somewhat 
irregular,  provided  substantial  justice  be  done,  rather 
than  that  men  should  be  allowed  to  corrupt  their  fel- 
low creatures,  without  mercy  and  without  control. 
The  guilt  of  these  three  men  seems  to  have  been  evi- 

*  Butler's  Lives,  Boniface.  Fleury,  xlii.  52. 


179 

denced  by  a  detail  of  circumstances,  which  are  too 
uninteresting  to  be  related  at  large. 

Boniface,  at  length,  was  fixed  at  Mentz,  and  he  is 
commonly  called  archbishop  of  that  city.  The  increase 
of  his  dignity  does  not,  however,  seem  to  have  di- 
minished his  zeal  and  laboriousness.  His  connexion 
with  England  was  constantly  preserved;  and^  it  is  in 
the  epistolary  correspondence  with  his  own  country, 
that  the  most  striking  evidence  of  his  pious  views  ap- 
pears. In  one  of  his  epistles,*  he  mentions  his  suffer- 
ings from  pagans,  false  christians,  and  immoral  pas- 
tors: he  feels  as  a  man  these  hardships,  but  intimates 
his  desire  of  the  honour  of  dying  for  the  love  of  Him, 
who  died  for  us.  He  often  begged  for  books  from 
England,  especially  those  of  Bede,  whom  he  styles  the 
lamp  of  the  church.  He  wrote  also  a  circular  letter  to 
the  bishops  and  people  of  England,  entreating  their 
prayers  for  the  success  of  his  missions. 

Many  persons,  while  in  obscure  life,  have  professed 
much  zeal  for  the  service  of  God,  but  have  declined 
in  earnestness,  as  they  advanced  in  years,  particularly 
if  they  acquired  honour  and  dignity  in  the  world. 
This  was  not  the  case  with  Boniface.  Though  op- 
pressed with  age  and  infirmities,  and  greatly  revered 
in  the  whole  christian  world,  he  determined  to  return 
into  Friezeland.  Before  his  departure,  he  acted  in  all 
things,  as  if  he  had  a  strong  presentiment  of  what  was 
to  happen.  Pie  appointed  Lullus,  an  Englishman,  his 
successor,  as  archbishop  of  Mentz,  and  wrote  to  the 
abbot  of  St.  Denys,  desiring  him  to  acquaint  the  king, 
Pepin,  that  he  and  his  friends  believed  he  had  not 
long  to  live.  He  begged,  that  the  king  would  show 
kindness  to  the  missionaries  whom  he  should  leave 
bfhind  him.f  "  Some  of  them,"  said  he,  "  are  priests 
dispersed  into  divers  parts,  for  the  good  of  the  church: 
others  are  monks,  settled  in  small  monasteries,  where 
they  instruct  the  children.  There  are  aged  men  with 
me,  who  have  long  assisted  me  in  my  labours.  I  fear, 

•  36  Ep.  Alban  Butkr.  f  Ep.  92. 


180 

lest  after  my  death,  they  be  dispersed,  and  the  disci- 
ples, who  are  near  the  pagan  frontiers,  should  lose 
the  faith  of  Jesus  Christ.  I  beg  that  my  son  Luilus, 
may  be  confirmed  in  the  episcopal  office,  and  that  he 
may  teach  the  priests,  the  monks,  and  the  people.  I 
hope  that  he  will  perform  these  duties.  That,  which 
most  afflicts  me,  is,  that  the  priests,  M^ho  are  on  the 
pagan  frontiers,  are  very  indigent.  They  can  obtain 
bread,  but  no  clothes,  unless  they  be  assisted,  as  they 
have  been  by  me.  Let  me  know  j^our  answer,  that  I 
may  live  or  die  with  more  cheerfulness." 

It  is  most  probable,  that  he  received  an  answer 
agreeable  to  his  benevolent  spirit,  as,  before  his  de- 
parture, he  ordained  Luilus  his  successor,  with  the 
consent  of  king  Pepin.*  He  went  by  the  Rhine  into 
Friezeland,  where,  assisted  by  Eoban,  whom  he  had 
ordained  bishop  of  Utrecht,  after  the  death  of  Wil- 
librod,  he  brought  great  numbers  of  pagans  into  the 
pale  of  the  church.  He  had  appointed  a  day  to  con- 
firm those,  whom  he  had  baptized.  In  waiting  for 
them,  he  encamped  with  his  followers  on  the  banks  of 
the  Bordne,  a  river  which  then  divided  East  and  West 
Friezeland.  His  intention  was  to  «onfirm,  by  impo'si- 
tion  of  hands,  the  converts  in  the  plains  of  Dockum. 
On  the  appointed  day,  he  beheld,  in  the  morning,  not 
the  new  converts,  whom  he  expected,  but  a  troop  of 
angry  pagans,  armed  vvitli  shields  and  lances.  The 
servants  went  out  to  resist,  but  Boniface,  with  calm 
intrepidity,  said  to  his  followers,  ''  children,  forbear  to 
fight;  the  scripture  forbids  us  to  render  evil  for  evil. 
The  day,  which  I  have  long  waited  for,  is  come;  hope 
in  God,  and  he  will  save  your  souls."  Thus  did  he 
prepare  the  priests  and  the  rest  of  his  companions  for 
martyrdom.  The  pagans  attacked  them  furiously,  and 
slew  the  whole  company,  fifty-two  in  number,  besides 
Boniface  himself.  This  happened  in  the  year  755,  in 
the  fortieth  year  after  his  arrival  in  Germany,  and  in 
the  75th  of  his  age.  The  manner,  in  which  his  death 

*  Fleury,  xlii.  20. 


181 

was  resented  by  the  christian  Germans,  shows  the 
high  veneration,  in  which  he  was  held  through  the 
country,  and  sufficiently  confutes  the  notion,  which 
some  have  held  of  his  imperious  and  fraudulent  con- 
duct. They  collected  a  great  army,  attacked  the  pa- 
gans, slew  many  of  them,  pillaged  their  country,  and 
carried  off  their  wives  and  children.  Those,  who  re- 
mained pagans  in  Friezeland,  were  glad  to  obtain 
peace  by  submitting  to  christian  rites.  Such  a  method 
of  showing  regard  for  Boniface,  might  be  expected 
from  a  rude  and  ill  informed  multitude.  But,  rude  as 
they  were,  they  had  the  gift  of  common  sense,  and 
could  judge  whether  the  apostle  of  the  Germans  was 
their  sincere  friend  or  not;  and  their  judgment  is  with 
me  decisive. 

A  collection  of  Boniface's  letters  has  been  pre- 
served, some  of  which  have  already  been  mentioned. 
That  the  reformation  of  the  clergy,  and  the  conver- 
sion of  infidels,  were  the  objects  of  his  zeal,  appears 
from  his  literary  correspondence,  no  less  than  from 
the  whole  tenor  of  his  life.*  In  the  first  letter  to  Ni- 
thardus,  in  which  he  takes  the  name  of  Winfrid,  he 
exhorts  him  to  contemn  the  things  of  time  and  sense, 
and  to  devote  himself  to  the  study  of  the  scriptures, 
which  he  recommends  as  the  highest  wisdom.  "  No- 
thing," says  he,  "  can  you  search  after  more  honour- 
ably in  youth,  or  enjoy  more  comfortably  in  old  age, 
than  the  knowledge  of  holy  scripture. " 

In  another  letter,  he  exhorts  the  priest  Herefrede, 
in  his  own  name,  and  in  that  of  eight  bishops,  who 
were  with  him,  to  show  the  memoir,  which  they  sent 
him,  to  the  king  of  the  Mercians.  The  purport  of  it 
was  to  implore  that  prince  to  check  the  debaucheries 
and  disorders  of  his  kingdom. 

Excessively  attached  as  he  was,  both  to  the  Roman 
see  and  to  monastic  institutions,  he  knew  how  to  sub- 
due these  attachments,  and  make  them  obedient  to  a 
stronger   passion   for  genuine  piety  and  virtue.   He 

•  Du  Pin.  8th  Cent.  Bonit 

Vol,  hi.  24 


182 

wrote  to  Cuthbert,  archbishopof  Canterbury,  desiring 
him  to  restrain  the  women  of  England  from  going  in 
such  numbers  to  Rome:  "  The  greatest  part  of  them," 
says  he,  "  Hve  in  lewdness,  and  scandalize  the  church; 
as  there  is  scarce  a  city  in  Lombardy  and  France, 
where  there  are  not  some  English  women  of  flagitious 
life  and  manners." 

That  association  of  ideas,  which  Mr.  Locke  de- 
scribes, and  which  has  been  in  all  ages  a  powerful 
source  of  error  and  absurdity,  both  in  principles  and 
practice,  accounts  for  the  acrimonious  expressions 
with  which  protestant  writers  have  too  often  indulged 
themselves  in  the  relation  of  matters  connected  with 
the  see  of  Rome.  The  Magdubergensian  centuriators 
seem,  by  their  treatment  of  the  character  of  Boniface, 
to  have  largely  imbibed  this  prejudice.  I  was  surprised 
to  find  them  giving  sanction  to  the  account  of  an  old 
chronicle, *^  which  describes  Boniface  as  raising  sol- 
diers to  invade  the  Thuringians,  absolving  them  from 
the  payment  of  taxes  to  their  civil  governors,  and  jus- 
tifying this  extraordinary  conduct  by  the  recital  of  a 
divine  vision.  The  manners  of  the  eighth  century  cer- 
tainly did  not  allow  such  an  union  of  the  military  and 
sacerdotal  character:  moreover,  the  circumstances  of 
Boniface's  proceedings,  as  attested  by  the  most  credi- 
ble accounts,  and,  above  all,  the  unquestionable  me- 
morials of  his  evangelical  labours,  forbid  me  to  enter- 
tain such  sentiments  of  the  apostle  of  Germany.  If  he 
had  had  soldiers  at  his  devotion,  he  surely  might  have 
avoided  those  hardships  which  he  endured,  and  have 
prevented  the  murder  of  himself,  and  of  his  compa- 
nions, in  the  plains  of  Dockum.  The  account  seems 
to  have  been  forged,  in  order  to  justify  the  conduct  of 
military  prelates,  and  of  papal  tyranny  in  after  ages. 
The  censures  also,  which  Boniface  passed  upon  Adal- 
bert and  Clement,  seem  to  have  been  arraigned  by  the 
centuriators,  without  foundation.  It  looks  like  an  in- 
stance of  great  partiality  to  call  such  men  "  good  per- 

*  Cent.  8th.  De  Propagatione  Ecclesix,  De  Bonifacio. 


183 

sons,"  who  were  convicted  of  scandalous  wickedness. 
But  it  would  be  tedious  to  particularize  the  charges, 
which  these  writers  have  formed  against  Boniface,  sup- 
ported chiefly  by  mere  suspicions  and  conjectures. 

That  Mosheim  should  inveigh  against  this  mission- 
ary, is  what  might  be  expected  from  his  prejudices. 
But  he  should  have  written  with  consistency.  He 
speaks  of  the  pious  labours  of  Boniface,  of  his  finish- 
ing with  glory  the  task  he  had  undertaken,  and  of  the 
assistance  which  he  received  from  a  number  of  pious 
men,  who  repaired  to  him  from  England  and  France.* 
"  His  piety,  he  adds,  was  ill  rewarded  by  that  barba- 
rous people,  by  whom  he  was  murdered.  If  we  con- 
sider the  eminent  services  he  rendered  to  Christianity, 
the  honourable  title  of  the  apostle  of  the  Germans  will 
appear  to  have  been  not  undeservedly  bestowed." 
Who  could  imagine  that  this  pious  pastor  should,  by 
the  same  writer,  be  accused,  without  warrant,  of  often 
"  employing  violence  and  terror,  and  sometimes  arti- 
fice and  fraud,  in  order  to  multiply  the  number  of 
christians."  He  ascribes  to  him  also  "  an  imperious 
and  arrogant  temper,  and  a  cunning  and  insidious  turn 
of  mind." 

Which  of  these  two  accoijnts  shall  we  believe?  for, 
it  is  as  impossible,  that  both  should  be  true,"  as  that 
piety  should  be  consistent  with  a  spirit  of  violence, 
arrogance,  and  fraud.  But,  it  is  thus,  that  men  zealous 
to  propagate  divine  truth  in  the  earth,  are  often  de- 
scribed by  those,  who  arrogate  to  themselves  the 
whole  praise  of  judgment  and  candor.  There  has  sel- 
dom existed  an  eminent  and  useful  missionary,  who 
has  not,  in  this  way  been  aspersed.  In  the  mean  time, 
I  am  sensible,  that  the  foundation  of  the  strong  preju- 
dices against  Boniface,  is  his  attachment  to  the  Roman 
see.  1  cannot  observe,  however,  that  he  either  practised 
idolatry  or  taught  false  doctrine.  Removed  from  the 
scene  of  controversy,  he  seems  to  have  taken  no  part 
in  the  debate  concerning  images:  he  was  ever  invaria- 

*  Mosheim,  cent.  vjii. 


184 

bk  111  opposing  idolatry  and  immorality:  he  lived 
amidst  many  dangers  and  sufferings;  and  he  appears ' 
to  have  supported,  for  many  years,  an  uniform  tenor 
of  zeal,  to  which  he  sacrificed  all  worldly  convenien- 
ces, and,  in  fine,  to  have  finished  his  course  in  mar- 
tyrdom, and  in  the  patience  and  meekness  of  a  disci- 
ple of  Christ.  I  shall  leave  it  to  the  reader's  judgment, 
what  estimate  ought  to  be  formed  of  the  man,  after 
having  observed,  that  God  made  large  use  of  his 
labours  by  extending,  in  the  north  of  Europe,  the 
bounds  of  the  church,  at  the  same  time  that  they  were 
so  much  contracted  in  Asia  and  Africa. 

Virgilius,  an  Irishman,  was  appointed  bishop  of 
Saltzburg,  by  king  Pepin.  His  modesty  prevented 
him  from  entering  upon  the  office  for  two  years;  but 
he  was  at  length  prevailed  upon  to  receive  consecra- 
tion. He  followed  the  steps  of  Boniface  in  rooting  out 
the  remains  of  idolatry  in  his  diocese,  and  died  in  the 
year  780.* 

Winebald,  the  son  of  a  royal  English  Saxon,  shared 
with  Boniface  in  his  labours  in  Germany;  his  life  was 
preserved,  though  in  imminent  danger  from  idolaters, 
and  God  blessed  his  work  among  the  heathen:  he 
died  in  760. 

*  A  misunderstanding  liad  once  taken  place  between  this  missionary 
and  Boniface.  The  latter  accused  him  to  the  see  of  Rome,  of  teaching', 
•'  that  there  was  another  world,  and  other  men  under  the  earth,  or 
another  sun  and  moon."  Bonif.  ep.  10.  To  the  pious  spirit  of  Boniface  a 
difficulty  of  solving  the  question  arose,  on  this  view  of  the  tenets  of  Vir- 
gilius, how  such  ideas  were  compatible  with  the  mosaic  account  of  the 
origin  of  all  mankind  from  Adam,  and  of  the  redemption  of  the  whole 
species  by  Jesus  Christ.  After  all,  it  appears  that  Boniface  was  mistaken, 
and  that  Virgilius,  being  better  acquainted  with  the  true  figure  of  the 
earth,  than  mo.st  of  his  contemporaries  in  that  ignorant  age,  only  held 
the  opinion  of  the  antipodes,  a  notion  as  sound  in  philosophy,  as  it  is  in- 
nocent in  regard  to  Christianity.  As  Virgilius  was  afterwards  made  bish- 
op of  Saltzburg,  he  continued  to  labour  in  the  same  cause  with  Boniface, 
and  to  tread  in  his  steps.  It  is  more  than  probable,  that  both  Boniface  and 
the  pope  were  satisfied  of  his  soundness  ?n  the  faith,  and  dismissed  the 
accusation.  It  seemed  worth  while  to  state  this  matter  in  a  true  light, 
from  the  evidence  of  Boniface's  letter.  It  appears,  that  Virgilius  was  not 
condemned  for  holding  the  doctrine  of  the  antipodes,  and  that  the  charge 
of  Bower,  against  Boniface,  is  as  maUcious,  as  it  is  ill  founded.  See  Hist, 
of  the  Popes.  Zachary, — where  the  historian,  without  warrant,  accuses 
Boniface  of  bearing  a  secret  grudge  to  Virgilius,  and  of  being  actuated 
by  a  spirit  of  revenge. 


185 

In  Friezeland,  the  church  of  Utrecht  was  governed 
by  Gregory,  who,  from  the  fifteenth  year  of  his  age, 
had  been  a  follower  of  Boniface.  Two  of  his  brothers 
having  been  murdered  in  a  wood,  the  barons,  whose 
vassals  they  were,  delivered  the  murderers  bound  into 
his  hands.  Gregory,  after  he  had  treated  them  kindly, 
bade  them  depart  in  peace,  saying,  sin  no  more,  lest 
a  worse  thing  befal  you.  He  was  assisted  in  his  min- 
isterial labours  by  several  disciples  of  various  nations; 
some  were  of  his  own  nation,  the  French,  others  were 
English,  Prisons,  newly  converted  Saxons,  and  Bava- 
rians. Scarce  a  day  passed,  but  early  in  the  morning 
he  gave  them  spiritual  instruction.  This  man  affected 
no  singularity  either  in  habit  or  in  diet.  That  he 
was  not  carried  away  by  the  torrent  of  popular  super- 
stition, is  a  strongproof  either  of  great  understanding, 
or  of  eminent  piety,  or  of  both.  But  he  recommended 
sobriety  among  his  disciples;  was  not  to  be  moved 
from  the  path  of  duty  by  slander,  and  was  boundless 
in  his  liberality  to  the  poor.  He  died  about  the  year 
776. 

Liefuvyn,  an  Englishman,  one  of  his  disciples,  was 
distinguished  by  his  labours  among  the  missionaries 
of  Germany.  He  ventured  even  to  appear  before  the 
assembly  of  the  Saxons  held  upon  the  Weser;  and, 
while  they  were  sacrificing  to  their  idols,  he  exhorted 
thenk  with  a  loud  voice  to  turn  from  those  vanities  to 
the  living  God.  As  an  ambassador  from  Jehovah,  he 
oiFered  them  promises  of  salvation.  And  here  his  zeal 
seemed  likely  to  have  cost  him  his  life;  but  he  was  at 
length  suffered  to  depart,  on  the  remonstrances*  of 
•Buto,  one  of  their  chiefs,  who  expostulated  with  them 
on  tlte  unreasonableness  of  treating  an  ambassador  of 
the  great  God  with  less  respect  than  they  did  one  from 
any  of  the  neighbouring  nations. f  In  the  mean  time, 

*  Fleury,  xliv.  xl. 

f  Buto  seems,  in  part  at  least,  to  have  felt  the  power  of  the  divine  word 
commending  itself  to  his  conscience  in  the  sight  of  God;  and  to  have  re- 
ported that  God  was  of  a  truth  with  real  christian  pastors.  1  Cor.  xiv.  25. 
Effects  of  the  kind,  mentioned  by  the  apostle,  have,  in  all  ages,  been  very 
common,  wherever  the  real  gosppl  is  plainly  and  faithfully  delivered.  The 


186 

the  arms  of  Charlemagne  prevailed  over  the  SaxOns, 
and  eventually,  at  least,  facilitated  the  labours  of  Lie- 
fuvyn,  who  continued  to  preach  among  this  people 
till  his  death. 

Villehad,  an  English  priest,  born  in  Northumber- 
land, was  abundantly  successful  in  the  conversion  of 
the  Saxons.  It  is  true,  that  he  taught  under  the  pro- 
tection and  auspices  of  Charlemagne.  But,  whatever 
may  be  thought  of  the  motives  of  the  latter,  the  views 
of  the  missionary  might  be,  and  probably  were,  up- 
right and  spiritual.  Certainly  he  underwent  great  ha- 
zards,* overcame  the  ferocious  spirits  of  the  infidels 
by  his  meekness,  and  spread  among  them  the  know- 
ledge of  the  gospel.  A  persecution  drove  him  once 
out  of  the  country;  but,  by  the  power  of  the  emperor, 
he  again  returned  and  prosecuted  his  labours.  After 
various  contests,  the  Saxons  were  obliged  to  submit 
to  Charlemagne,  and  to  become  nominal  christians  in 
general.  But,  that  this  was  universally  the  case,  or 
even  nearly  so,  the  pious  laboriousness  of  a  number 
of  missionaries  renders  very  improbable. 

Villehad  was  bishop  of  Bremen,  and  was  called  the 
apostle  of  Saxony.  He  had  begun  his  mission  in 
Dockum,  where  Boniface  was  murdered.  He  was  the 
first  missionary,  who  passed  the  Elbe.  His  attention 
to  the  scriptures  appears  from  his  copying  the  epistles 
of  St.  Paul.  He  died  in  Friezeland,  after  he  had  la- 
boured 35  years,  and  had  been  bishop  of  Bremen 
upwards  of  two  years.  To  his  weeping  friends,  he 
said  in  his  dying  moments,  ''  Withhold  me  not  from 

inessas!;e  from  God  convinces  and  overawes  the  serious  hearer,  and,  by 
its  internal  excellence,  makes  itself  a  way  into  the  conscience.  If  Liefu- 
vyn  had  preaclied  mere  morals,  I  should  no  more  have  expected  sucli 
consequences  to  have  attended  his  harangues,  than  they  did  the  lectures 
of  the  Greek  philosophers. 

*  Once  when  he  was  in  dang-er  of  beings  put  to  death  by  the  pagan  Pri- 
sons, some  of  them,  struck  witli  his  innocence  and  probitj',  and  doubting 
whether  the  religion  w  hich  he  preached  might  not  be  divine,  said,  "  let 
us  cast  lots  whether  we  shall  put  him  to  death,  or  dismiss  him."  It  was 
,  done  so,  and  the  lot  decided  in  his  favour.  Fleury,  xlv.  15.  The  custom  of 
deciding  cases  of  this  nature  by  lot,  was  remarkably  German.  The  clas- 
sical reader  may  recollect  a  similar  instance  in  Cesar's  Comm.  toward 
'he  end  of  lib.  i.  De  Bell.  Gall. 


187 

going  to  God:  these  sheep  I  recommend  to  him,  who 
intrusted  them  to  me,  and  whose  mercy  is  able  to 
protect  them."  See  Alban  Butler,  vol.  xi. 

This  was  an  age  of  missionaries:  their  character  and 
their  success  form,  indeed,  almost  the  only  shining 
picture  in  this  centur}-.  Firmin,  a  Frenchman,  preach- 
ed the  gospel,  under  various  difficulties,*  in  Alsace, 
Bavaria,  and  Switzerland,  and  inspected  a  number  of 
monasteries.  After  all,  the  arms  of  Charlemagne  con- 
tributed more  than  any  thing  else  to  the  external  re- 
ception of  Christianity;  and  Alcuin,  his  favourite, 
laments,  that  more  pains  were  taken  to  exact  from  the 
Saxons  the  payment  of  tithes,  than  to  inform  them  of 
the  nature  of  true  religion.  Teachers,  who  were  mere- 
ly secular,  drenched  in  the  vices  of  human  nature  and 
of  the  times,  would  doubtless  act  in  this  manner.  But, 
I  have  atttempted,  from  very  confused  and  imperfect 
memoirs,  to  present  to  the  reader,  those,  who  were 
indeed  sent  of  God,  and  laboured,  in  demonstration 
of  the  Spirit,  in  the  north  of  Europe. 

Rumold,  a  native  either  of  England  or  of  Ireland, 
should  be  added  to  the  list.  He  travelled  into  Lower 
Germany,  went  into  Brabant,  diffused  much  light  in 
the  neighbourhood  of  Mechlin,  and  was  made  an  itin- 
erant episcopal  missionary.  In  775,  he  was  murdered 
by  two  persons,  one  of  whom  he  had  reproved  for 
adultery.  |- 

Silvin,  of  Auchy,  born  in  Toulouse, J  was  first  a 
courtier,  then  a  religious  person,  and  afterwards  ap- 
pointed bishop  among  the  infidels.  His  labours  were, 
chiefly,  in  Terouanne,  the  north  of  France,  which 
Avas,  in  this  century,  full  of  pagans  and  merely  nomi- 
nal christians.  He  gathered  in  a  large  harvest,  having 
preached  for  many  years.  He  died  at  Auchy,  in  the 
county  of  Artois. 

*  Mosh  cent.  viii.  |  A.  Butler,  vol.  vli. 

\  See  Alban  Butler's  Lives  of  Saints. 


CHAP.  V. 

Authors  of  this  Centm^, 

1  HE  most  learned  writer  of  this  century,  if  we 
may  except  our  countryman  Bede,  seems  to  have 
been  John  of  Damascus.  He  was  one  of  the  first, 
who  mingled  the  aristotehan  or  peripatetic  philoso- 
phy with  the  christian  religion.*  This  philosophy  was 
gradually  supplanting  the  authority  of  the  platonic. 
It  makes  no  part  of  my  subject,  to  explain  the  differ- 
ence of  the  systems  of  Plato  and  Aristotle.  Suffice  it 
to  say,  that  they  were  both  very  foreign  to  Christianity, 
and  each,  in  their  turn,  corrupted  it  extremely.  John 
was  a  voluminous  writer,'  and  became,  among  the 
Greeks,  what  Thomas  Aquinas  afterwards  was  among 
the  Latins.  He  seems  to  have  defended  the  system, 
commonly  called  the  arminian  notion  of  freewill,  in 
opposition  to  the  doctrine  of  effectual  grace.  Thisf 
was  a  natural  consequence  of  his  philosophizing  spirit. 
For,  all  the  philosophers  of  antiquity,  amidst  their 
endless  discordancies,  agreed  in  teaching  man  to  rely 
on  himself.  This  is  the  dangerous  philosophy,  which 
St.  Paul  warns  us  to  beware  of.  It  hitherto  wore, 
chiefly,  the  garb  of  Plato:  it  was  now  assuming  that 
of  Aristotle.  In  both  these  dresses,  it  was  still  "  the 
wisdom  of  this  world,  which  is  foolishness  with  God;" 
and  even  at  this  day,  among  all  Avho  lean  to  their  own 
understanding,  to  the  disparagement  of  revelation,  its 
nature  is  the  same,  however  varnished  with  the  polish 
of  christian  phraseology. 

In  the  doctrine  of  the  Trinity,  John  appears  to  have 
been  orthodox :  in  other  respects,  he  was  one  of  the 
most  powerful  supporters  of  error.  He  was  an  advo- 
cate for  the  practice  of  praying  for  the  dead,  which  he 
regarded  as  effectual  for  the  remission  of  sins.  This 

*  ii^Vur.  xlij.  44.  t  Du  Pin.  8th  cent.  John  of  Damascn<! 


189 

was  a  deplorable  article  of  superstition,  which  had 
been  growing  in  the  church,  and  wanted  the  sanction 
of  a  genius  like  that  of  John,  to  give  it  lasting  cele- 
brity. I  can  find  no  evidences  of  his  real  knowledge 
or  practice  of  godliness.  And  the  reader  will  think  he 
has  been  detained  sufficiently  by  this  Grecian  author, 
after  he  has  learned,  that  the  eloquent  and  learned  pen 
of  John  of  Damascus,  defended  the  detestable  doc- 
trine of  image  worship,  and  contributed  more  than 
that  of  any  other  author,  to  establish  the  practice  of  it 
in  the  east.  In  the  mean  time  there  arose  no  evange- 
lical luminary,  who  might  combat  his  arguments  with 
sufficient  ability.  The  scripture  itself,  indeed,  was 
more  than  half  buried  under  the  load  of  superstitions. 
The  learning  of  this  eastern  father  was  probably  more 
accurate  and  refined  than  that  of  Bede.  In  the  latter, 
however,  we  have  seen  the  fullest  evidence  of  chris- 
tian light  and  humility:  in  the  former,  as  far  as  res- 
pects true  wisdom,  all  is  dark  and  dreary;  and  the 
baleful  influence  of  his  unscriptural  opinions,  however 
respectable  he  might  be  in  a  literary  view,  has  seldom 
been  exceeded  by  that  of  any  other  writer  in  the  his- 
tory of  the  church. 

I  have  already  taken  notice  of  the  opposition  made 
in  the  west,  to  the  progress  of  image  worship,  by  the 
authority  of  Charlemagne.  The  Carolin  books,  pub- 
lished in  his  name,  were  powerful  checks  against  the 
growing  evil;  and  it  is  more  probable,  that  such  a 
prince  as  Charlemagne  was  carried  along  by  the  cur- 
rent of  the  times,  than  that  he  directed  the  sentiments 
of  the  western  churches  by  his  own  theological  stu- 
dies. Political  and  secular  reasons  unhappily  retained 
these  churches  in  the  Roman  communion,  and,  in  pro- 
cess of  time,  the  abominations  of  idolatry  overspread 
them  all.  It  is,  however,  a  pleasing  circumstance,  that 
the  labours  of  missionaries  in  the  north  of  Europe, 
which  form  the  most  shining  part  of  christian  history 
in  this  century,  were  all  conducted  by  christians  of  the 
west,  and  particularly  by  those,  who  were  the  most 
remote  from  idolatry,  those  of  our  own  country  espe- 
VoL.  III.  '  25 


190 

cially.  There  is,  therefore,  good  reason  to  behevej 
that  the  new  churches  in  the  north  were  taught  to 
worship  the  living  God,  through  the  one  Mediator 
Christ.  For  the  British  churches  expressed  the  most 
marked  detestation  of  the  second  council  of  Nice.* 
And  Alcuin,  the  preceptor  of  Charlemagne,  disproved 
its  decrees  in  a  letter,  by  express  authorities  of  scrip- 
ture. It  is  too  true,  that  our  ancestors,  like  the  rest  of 
Europe,  learned  at  length  to  worship  idols.  For  reli- 
gious movements  among  churches  are  generally  retro- 
grade. Intirely  distinct  from  human  institutions  of 
science,  christian  views  are  most  perfect  at  first,  as 
being  derived  from  the  divine  word,  and  impressed  on 
the  hearts  of  men  by  divine  grace:  the  wisdom  of  this 
world,  aided  by  the  natural  propensities  of  mankind, 
corrupts  them  afterwards  by  degrees,  and  too  often 
leaves  them,  at  length,  neither  root  nor  branch  of  evan- 
gelical light  and  purity. 

Alcuin,  who  has  been  just  mentioned,  was  born 
in  England;!  ^^^  ^^^s  a  deacon  of  the  church  of 
York.  He  was  sent  ambassador  into  France  by  Offa, 
king  of  the  Mercians,  in  the  year  790.  On  this  occa- 
sion, he  gained  the  esteem  of  Charlemagne,  and  per- 
suaded that  monarch  to  found  the  universities  of  Paris 
and  Pavia.  He  was  looked  upon  as  one  of  the  wisest 
and  most  learned  men  of  his  time.  He  read  public 
lectures  in  the  emperor's  palace,  and  in  other  places. 
He  wrote,  in  an  orthodox  manner,  on  the  Trinity,  and, 
in  particular,  confuted  the  notions  of  Felix,  bishop  of 
Urgcl,  of  vi^hom  it  is  sufficient  to  say,  that  he  revived 
something  like  the  nestorian  heresy,  by  separating 
the  humanity  from  the  divinity  of  the  Son  of  God. 
Alcuin  showed  himself  a  master  of  his  subject,  and 
wrote  in  a  candid  and  moderate  spirit.  He  died  in  804. 

Even  Italy  itself  was  not  disposed  altogether  to 
obey  the  pope,  in  regard  to  image  worship.  Some  Ital- 
ian bishops  assisted  at  the  council  of  Frankfort,  before 
mentioned;  and  Paulinus,  of  Aquileia,  bore  a  distin- 

^  Collier's  E.cc.  Hist .  b-  2.  }■  Du  Pin . 


191 

K  .    .         

guished  part  in  it.  This  prelate  wrote,  also,  against 

the  error  of  Felix,  and  seems  to  have  been  one  of  the 
best  bishops  of  his  time.  Let  us  try,  from  the  scanty 
materials  before  us,  if  we  can  collect  his  views  and 
spirit  on  subjects  peculiarly  christian. 

This  bishop  successfully  opposed  the  error  of  Felix, 
concerning  the  person  of  Jesus  Christ,  and  wrote  a 
book  of  wholesome  instructions,  which,  for  a  long- 
time was  supposed  to  be  the  work  of  Augustine.*  It 
is  remarkable,  that  he  and  some  other  Italian  bishops, 
in  the  year  78 7, f  agreed  to  condemn  the  decrees  of 
the  second  council  of  Nice,  as  idolatrous,  though  pope 
Adrian  had  assisted  at  that  council  by  his  legates,  and 
used  his  utmost  endeavours  to  maintain  its  authority. 
In  the  council  of  Frankfort  also,  the  presence  of  two 
papal  legates  hindered  not  the  firm  agreement  of  Pau- 
linus  and  other  Italian  bishops,  with  the  decrees  of 
the  said  council.  These  are  clear  proofs,  that  the  des- 
potism of  antichrist  was,  as  yet,  so  far  from  being 
universal,  that  it  was  not  owned  throughout  Italy 
itself;  and,  that  in  some  parts  of  that  country,  as  well 
as  in  England  and  France,  the  purity  of  christian 
worship  was  still  maintained.  The  city  of  Rome,  in- 
deed, and  its  environs,  seem  to  have  been,  at  thjs 
period,  tlie  most  corrupt  part  of  Christendom  in  Eu- 
rope, nor  do  I  remember  a  single  missionary  in  these 
times  to  have  been  an  Italian. 

Paulinus,  in  his  book  against  Felix,  affirms,  that 
the  eucharist  is  a  morsel  and  bit  of  bread.  J  He  main- 
.  tains,  that  it  is  spiritual  life  or  death  in  the  eater,  as  he 
either  has  faith  or  has  not;  \vhich  seems  to  be  a  just 
and  evangelical  view  of  that  divine  ordinance,  not  only 
free  from  the  absurdity  of  transubstantiation,  but  also 
expressive  of  the  christian  article  of  justification,  of 
which  the  reader  hears  very  little  in  these  cloudy 
times.  Still  more  express  testimonies  to  the  essentials 
of  salvation  are  not  wanting  in  this  author.  He  pro. 

*  Du  Pin. 

t  See  Dr.  Allix,  on  the  ancient  churches  of  Piedmont. 

t  B'.iccellaet  particula  panjs.  Inhig  cledicalion  to  Gharlemngne.' 


192 

tests,  that  the  blood  of  those,  who  have  themselves 
been  redecmtd,  cannot  blot  out  the  least  sin;  that  the 
expiation  of  iniquity  is  the  exclusive  privilege  of  the 
blood  of  Christ  alone.  He*  defines  the  properties  of 
the  divine  and  human  nature,  as  united  in  the  per- 
son of  Jesus  Christ,  with  great  precision;  and  so 
careful  is  he  to  describe  the  latter,  as  circumscribed 
and  limited  by  the  bounds  of  body,  as  to  form,  at 
least,  a  strong  consequential  argument  against  the 
notion  of  transubstantiation.  Hear  how  he  comments 
on  our  Lord's  well  known  description  of  eating  his 
flesh  and  drinking  his  blood  in  the  6th  chapter  of  St. 
John's  gospel.  "  The  flesh  and  blood  may  be  referred 
to  his  human,  not  to  his  divine  nature.  Yet  if  he 
were  not  the  true  God,  his  flesh  and  blood  could  by 
no  means  give  eternal  life  to  those,  who  feed  upon 
him.  Whence  also  John  says,  the  blood  of  his  Son 
cleanseth  us  from  all  sin."  Hear  also  how  he  speaks 
of  the  intercession  of  Christ.  "  Paul  is  not  a  media- 
tor; he  is  an  ambassador  for  Christ.  An  advocate  is 
he,  who  being  also  the  redeemer,  exhibits  to  God  the 
Father  the  human  nature  in  the  unity  of  the  person  of 
God  and  man.  John  intercedes  not,  but  declares  that 
this  mediator  is  the  propitiation  for  our  sins."  Once 
more:  "  The  Son  of  God  Almighty,  our  almighty 
Lord,  because  he  redeemed  us  with  the  price  of  his 
blood,  is  justly  called  the.  true  redeemer,  by  the  con- 
fession of  all,  who  are  redeemed.  He  himself  was  not 
redeemed;  he  had  never  been  captive:  we  have  been 
redeemed,  because  we  were  captives,  sold  under  sin,f 
bound  by  the  handwriting  which  was  against  us, 
which  he  took  away,  nailing  it  to  his  cross,  blotting  it 
out  by  his  blood,  triumphing  openly  over  it  in  him- 
self, having  finished  a  work  which  the  blood  of  no 
other  redeemer  could  do."|  Such  is  the  language  of 
this  evangelical  bishop,  while  he  is  opposing  the  nes- 
torian  heresy  revived  by  Felix.  And  here,  at  least,  we 
see  a  due  respect  paid  to  holy  scripture.  PaulinuS; 

'*  Allix.  I  Rom,  vii.  i  Coloss.  ii. 


193 

quotes,  understands,  and  builds  his  faith  upon  itj  and 
is  equally  remote  from  dependence  on  mere  human 
reasonings,  on  the  authority  of  the  church  of  Rome, 
or  on  any  traditions. 

This  bishop  was  born  about  the  year  726,  near 
Friuli,  was  promoted  to  Aquileia  in  776,  was  highly 
favoured  by  Charlemagne,  and  preached  the  gospel 
to  the  pagans  of  Carinthia  and  Stiria,  and  to  the 
Avares,  a  nation  of  Huns.  One  of  his  maxims  was, 
"  Pride  is  that,  without  which  no  sin  is  or  will  be 
committed:  it  is  the  beginning,  the  end,  and  the  cause 
of  all  sin."  I  wonder  not,  that  he,  who  could  see  the 
nature  of  sin  with  so  penetrating  an  eye,  in  an  age  of 
dulness,  was  confounded  with  the  bishop  of  Hippo. 
He  died  in  804.*  In  a  letter  to  Charlemagne,  he 
complained  of  the  want  of  residence  in  bishops,  and 
of  their  attending  the  court.  He  cites  a  canon  of  the 
council  of  Sardica,  in  the  fourth  century,  which  for- 
bade the  absence  of  bishops  from  their  dioceses,  for  a 
longer  space  than  three  weeks. 

*  I  have  been  obliged  to  Alban  Butler  for  some  of  the  foregoing  parti- 
culars. But,  it  is  remarkable  that  he  omits  his  testimony  against  image 
worshJD.  The  reader  sh.o'ilrl  know  that  Bntler  is  a  zealous  Roman  catholic. 


CENTURY  IX, 


CHAP.  I. 

A  General  Fiew  of  the  State  of  Religion  ui  this 
Century. 

W  E  are  penetrating  into  the  regions  of  darkness, 
and  a  "  land  of  deserts  and  pits,  a  land  of  drought, 
and  of  the  shadow  of  death;"*  and  we  are  carried,  by 
every  step,  into  scenes  still  more  gloomy  than  the 
former.  Here  and  tliere,  indeed,  a  glimmering  ray  of 
the  sun  of  righteousness  appears;  but  it  is  in  vain  to 
look  for  any  steady  lustre  of  evangelical  truth  and  ho- 
liness. In  such  a  situation,  to  pursue  the  chronologi- 
cal course  of  events,  would  be  as  tedious  as  it  is  un- 
profitable. The  plan  of  history  for  each  century  should 
be  modified  by  the  existing  circumstances.  And  there 
seem  to  be  four  distinct  phenomena  of  christian  light 
in  this  period,  which  will  deserve  to  be  illustrated  in 
so  many  chapters:  namely,  in  the  2d,  3d,  4th,  and  5th. 
It  shall  be  the  business  of  this  first  chapter,  to  pre- 
mise some  general  observations,  which  may  enable 
the  reader  more  clearly  to  understand  those  pheno- 
mena. 

Several  circumstances  attended  the  thick  darkness, 
which  pervaded  this  century;  and  they  appear  to  be 
reducible  to  the  following  heads:  the  preference  given 
to  human  writings  above  the  scriptures,  the  domina- 
tion of  the  popedom,  the  accumulation  of  ceremonies, 
and  the  oppression  of  the  godly,  f 

*  JercTii.  ii.  6. 

t  Centuriat.  See  their  preface  to  the  9th  century.  I  have  availed  niy- 
scU'  of  some  of  the  thouglits;  the  whole  is  ingenious  and  spirited. 


195 

It  was  now  fashionable  to  explain  scripture  intirely 
by  the  writings  of  the  fathers.  No  man  was  permitted, 
with  impunity,  to  vary  in  the  least  from  their  deci- 
sions. The  great  apostolical  rule  of  interpretatioUj 
namely,  to  compare  spiritual  things  with  spiritual,* 
was  in  a  manner  lost.  It  was  deemed  sufficient,  that 
such  a  renowned  doctor  had  given  such  an  interpre- 
tation. Hence,  men  of  learning  and  industry  paid  more 
attention  to  the  fathers,  than  to  the  sacred  volume, 
which,  through  long  disuse  and  neglect,  was  looked 
on  as  obscure  and  perplexed,  and  quite  unfit  for  po- 
pular reading.  Even  divine  truths  seemed  to  derive 
their  authority  more  from  the  word  of  man  than  of 
God;  and  the  writings  and  decrees  of  men  were  no 
longer  treated  as  witnesses,  but  usurped  the  office  of 
judges  of  divine  truth. 

The  popedom  also  grew  stronger  and  stronger.  Ig- 
norance and  superstition  were  so  predominant,  that 
whoever  dared  to  oppose  the  bishop  of  Rome,  drew 
upon  himself  an  host  of  enemies.  Ail  who  looked  for 
advancement  in  the  church,  attached  themselves  to 
antichrist.  It  is  in  this  way  only,  that  I  can  account  foi* 
the  very  little  resistance  made  to  image  worship.  We 
"have  seen,  how  a  large  part  of  the  west  rejected  it. 
But  most  persons  contented  themselves  with  a  simple 
exposition  of  their  creed.  Idolatry,  in  the  mean  time, 
was  practically  supported  by  the  whole  power  and  in^r 
fluence  of  the  popedom. 

The  great  accumulation  of  ceremonies,  the  obser- 
vance of  which  was  looked  upon  as  absolutely  neces- 
sary to  salvation,  drew  off  the  attention  of  men  from 
christian  piety.  The  all  important  article  of  justifica- 
tion was  nearly  smothered  in  the  rubbish;  and  pas-- 
tors  were  so  much  taken  up  with  externals,  that  thev 
were  almost  intirely  diverted  from  intellectual  im- 
provement. 

Men  of  eminence,  both  in  church  and  state,  partly 
•tlirqugh    superstition,    and    partly   through    secular 


ICor. 


196 

views,  suppressed  fn  the  bud  every  attempt  to  inform 
mankind.  There  were,  however,  a  few  who  groaned 
under  these  evils,  and  worshipped  God  in  spirit  and 
in  truth. 

In  Asia,  mahometanism  still  reigned;  and,  the  case 
of  the  paulicians  excepted,*  scarce  a  vestige  of  real 
godliness  appeared  in  the  eastern  church,  though  we 
ought  not  to  doubt  but  the  Lord  had  his  secret 
ONES.  Image  worship  was  still  a  subject  of  debate: 
but,  at  length,  under  the  superstitious  empress  Theo- 
dora, it  effectually  triumphed  in  the  east.  Nor  was 
there  an  emperor  or  bishop  of  Constantinople,  in  all 
this  period,  who  seems  to  have  deserved  particular 
notice  on  account  of  vital  christian  knowledge,  or 
practical  piety. f  The  same  judgment  may  be  formed 
of  the  Roman  popes.  In  this  dark  season,  Pascasius 
Radbert  introduced  the  absurd  tenet  of  transubstantia- 
tion,  which  was  opposed  by  John  Scotus  Erigena,  and 
Rabanus,  archbishop  of  Mentz,  two  of  the  most 
learned  men  of  that  age.  But  their  learning  seems  to 
have  had  little  connexion  with  godliness,  however  they 
might  successfully  plead  the  cause  of  common  sense 
in  the  controversy  just  mentioned.  For,  they  joined 
in  opposing  the  doctrine  of  grace,  concerning  which 
a  controversy  of  some  importance  was  raised  in  this 
century.* 

In  France,  the  views  of  divine  grace,  revived  by 
Augustine,  were  more  and  more  darkened;  and  we 
shall  presently  find,  that  a  zealous  advocate  for  them 
could  not  be  heard  with  candor.  Ado,  archbishop  of 
Vienne,  was,  however,  an  eminent  exception  to  this 
account.  He  was  indefatigable  in  pressing  the  great 
truths  of  salvation.  He  usually  began  his  sermons  with 
these,  or  the  like  words:  "  Hear  the  eternal  truth, 
which  speaks  to  you  in  the  gospel;"  or  "  hear  Jesus 


*  See  chap.  ii. 

f  I  say  vital  ;  for  I  am  aware  that  Photius,  bishop  of  Constantinople, 
flourished  in  this  century ;  a  person  equally  infamous  for  hypocrisy  and 
ambition,  and  renowned  for  genius  and  ecclesiastical  learning. 

\  See  chap.  iv. 


197 

Christ,  who  saith  to  you."  He  took  particular  care  of 
tlie  examination  of  candidates  for  orders;  and  was  a 
very  diligent  disciplinarian.  He  permitted  none,  who 
were  ignorant  of  christian  principles,  to  be  sponsors  to 
the  baptized,  or  to  be  joined  in  matrimony,  or  to  be 
admitted  to  the  Lord's  supper,  till  they  were  better 
instructed.  He  was  inflexibly  vigilant  against  vice; 
,and,  while  his  own  example  was  an  honour  to  his  pro- 
fession, he  enjoined  his  clergy  to  apprise  him,  if  they 
should  discover  any  slip  in  his  conduct.  Nor  did  king 
Lothaire  find  him  obsequious  to  his  lusts:  for,  through 
Ado's  vigorous  remonstrances,  he  was  obliged  to  de- 
sist from  a  design  of  divorcing  his  queen.  He  sympa- 
thized, however,  with  sincere  penitents,  and  was  a  real 
friend  to  the  poor,  both  in  a  spiritual  and  temporal 
sense;  and  was  the  founder  of  many  hospitals  for  their 
reception.   See  Alban  Butler,  vol.  xii. 

In  England,  the  decline  of  godliness  was  grievous,* 
and,  as  fHuntingdom  remarks,  divine  providence 
punished  the  Saxons  by  the  invasion  of  the  Danes, 
the  most  lawless  and  the  most  savage  of  all  mortals. 
The  great  Alfred  was  indeed  raised  up  to  defend  his 
country  against  them.  And,  one  of  his  speeches,  deli- 
vered to  the  soldiers,  before  a  battle,  displays,  at  once, 
much  good  sense  and  a  spirit  of  religion.  He  told  his 
people,  that  their  snis  had  given  their  enemies  the  ad- 
vantage: that  they  ought  to  reform  their  own  manners, 
in  order  to  engage  the  favour  of  God  on  their  side:  that 
in  other  respects  they  had  the  superiority,  christians 
were  fighting  against  heathens,  and  honest  men  agains 
robbers:  that  theirs  was  not  a  war  of  ambition  or  con- 
quest, but  of  necessary  selfdefence.  In  the  battle 
which  followed,  he  intirely  defeated  the  Danes.    . 

*  There  is  reason,  however,  to  believe,  that  a  devotional,  and,  proba- 
bly, an  evangelical  spirit  prevailed  in  some  parts  of  the  British  isles.  For 
monks,  in  Ireland  and  Scotland,  who  gave  themselves  to  prayer,  preach- 
ing, and  teaching  in  the  middle  ages,  were  called  Culdees;  that  is,  Cul- 
toi-es  Dei.  They  were  first  known  in  this  century  by  that  name,  at  St. 
Andrew's  particularly:  but  were  never  settled  in  England,  except  at  St 
Peter's  in  York.  A.  Butler,  vol.  v. 

t  Collier's  Ecc.  Hist. 

Vol.  IIL  26 


198 

In  *"the  preface  to  Gregory's  Pastoral,  a  book  trans- 
lated into  English,  by  this  prince,  for  the  benefit  of  his 
subjects,  he  observes,  that  when  he  came  to  the  crown, 
there  were  very  few,  south  of  the  Humber,t  who  un- 
derstood the  common  prayers  in  English,  or,  who 
could  translate  a  passage  of  Latin  into  the  language  of 
their  own  country.  He  sent  copies  of  Gregory's  Pas- 
toral into  every  diocese,  for  the  benefit  of  the  clergy: 
he  translated  also  Bede's  ecclesiastical  history,  with 
the  same  beneficent  design:  he  himself  constantly  at- 
tended public  worship;  and,  from  his  youth,  he  was 
wont  to  pray  for  grace,  and  to  use  serious  methods  to 
subdue  his  passions.  Through  life  he  seems  to  have 
maintained  a  beautiful  consistency  of  character.  He 
endeavoured  to  promote  the  knowledge  of  the  English 
tongue  among  all  persons  of  tolerable  rank;  and  ex- 
pressed his  opinion,  that  those,  who  meant  to  attain 
eminence  in  the  state,  should  also  know  the  Latin  lan- 
guage. It  is  pleasant  to  see  the  ebullitions  of  genius 
and  of  strong  sense  in  an  iron  age,  like  this  before  usi 
Alfred  would,  doubtless,  in  more  auspicious  times, 
have  appeared  among  the  first  of  mankind.  There 
seems  no  reason  to  doubt  the  sincerity  of  his  piety.  A 
religious  spirit  had  this  advantage  in  a  rude  age,  that 
it  was  not  thought  to  reflect  disgrace  on  the  powers  of 
the  understanding.  But,  this  glorious  sun,  after  it  had 
shone  a  little  time  through  an  atmosphere  enveloped 
with  vapours,  and  had  in  some  degree  dispersed  them, 
was  not  able  to  illumine  the  region,  in  which  it  appear- 
ed: the  mist  prevailed  again,  and  England  was  co- 
vered vvith  darkness. 

•  It  majT^  be  proper  to  remind  the  reader,  that  Egbert 
became  king  of  Wessex,  about  the  beginning  of  this 
century:  that  in  827,  he  became  king  of  all  England, 
near  400  years  after  the.  first  arrival  of  the  Saxons;  and 

^   that  Alfred  was  his  grandson. 

*  Alfred  invited  John  Scotus,  not  the  fitmous  John  Scotus  Erigena, 
from  Old  Sasony  into  Enj^land ;  and  founded  the  university  of  Oxford 
That  ot  Cambridge  was  of  a  date  somewhat  later. 

t  Collier,   vol.  i,  b.  3. 


199 

«t 


Charlemagne  of  France,  who  had  flourished  in  the 
last  century,  died  in  the  former  part  of  this,  aged  72, 
in  the  year  814  It  is  scarce  worth  while  to  recount 
the  SPLENDID  SINS  of  this  emperor,  since  his  san- 
guinary ambition  and  his  habitual  lewdness,  too 
plainly  evince  his  want  of  christian  principle.  He  re- 
vived the  western  empire  in  Germany,  which  conti- 
nues to  this  day.  He  was  a  great  instrument  of  provi- 
dence, no  doubt,  in  extending  the  pale  of  the  church; 
and,  at  the  same  time,  he  fixed  the  power  of  the  pope- 
dom on  the  strongest  foundations.  His  labours,  also, 
to  revive  learning,  were  very  great;  but,  like  those  of 
Alfred,  they  failed  of  success.  His  religious  and  moral 
character  bear  no  comparison  with  that  of  the  English 
monarch. 


CHAP.  II. 

The  Paulicians. 

About  the  year  660,  a  new  sect  arose  in  the  east, 
the  accounts  of  which  are  far  more  scanty  than  a 
writer  of  real  church  history  would  wish.^  Constan- 
tine,  a  person  who  dwelt  in  Mananalis,  an  obscure  town 
in  the  neighbourhood  of  Samosata,  entertained  a  dea- 
con, who,  having  been  a  prisoner  among  the  mahome- 
tans,  had  returned  from  captivity,  and  received,  from  the 
same  deacon  the  gift  of  the  new  testament  in  the  origi- 
nal language.  Even  then  the  laity  had  begun  to  think 
themselves  excluded  from  the  reading  of  the  sacred 

*  Photius,  b.  1.  CoDira.  Manichseos.  et  Petrus  Siculus  Hist.  Manichsor. 
These  are  the  two  original  sources,  from  which  Moshcini  and  Gibbon 
have  drawn  their  information  concerninc;^  the  paulicians.  Photius  and  Pe- 
ter have  not  fallen  into  my  hands;  and  their  prejudice  and  passion  were  so 
great,  that  my  reader  will  very  probably  be  no  great  loser  by  the  cir- 
cumstance. By  the  assistance  of  the  two  modern  authors,  I  .shall  state  the 
few  facts  which  are  known,  and  f^lve  as  impartial  a  judgment  concerning 
the  sect  in  question  as  I  can.  The  candor  of  Gibbon  is  remarkable  in 
this  part  of  his  history.  O  si  sic  omnia!  Mosheim  Ecclc.  Hist.  ix.  cent 
Gibbon,  vol.  v.  c.  54. 


200 

volume;  and  the  clergy,  both  in  the  east  and  the  west, 
encouraged  this  apprehension.  The  growing  ignorance, 
rendered  by  far  the  greatest  part  of  the  laity  incapable 
of  reading  the  scriptures.  I  do  not  find  any  ecclesias- 
tical prohibitory  decree  in  these  times,  nor  was  there 
much  occasion  for  it.  But  Constantine  made  the  best 
use  of  the  deacon's  present.  He  studied  the  sacred  ora- 
cles, and  exercised  his  own  understanding  upon  them. 
He  formed  to  himself  a  plan  of  divinity  from  the  new 
testament;  and,  as  St.  Paul  is  the  most  systematical  of 
all  the  apostles,  Constantine  very  properly  attached  him- 
self to  his  writings  with  peculiar  attention,  as  indeed 
every  serious  theologian  mustdo.  He  will  find,  no  doubt, 
the  same  truths  interspersed  through  the  rest  of  the  sa- 
cred volume,  and  an  amazing  unity  of  design  and  spirit 
breathing  through  the  whole;  but,  as  it  pleased  God  to 
employ  one  person  more  learned  than  the  rest,  it  is 
highly  proper,  that  the  student  should  avail  himself  of 
this  advantage.  That  Constantine  was  in  possession  of 
the  genuine  text,  was  acknowledged  universally.  A 
remarkable  circumstance!  which  shows  the  watchful 
providence  of  God  over  the  scriptures!  Amidst  the 
thousand  frauds  and  sophisms  of  the  times,  no  adulte- 
ration of  them  was  ever  permitted  to  take  place. 

The  enemies  of  the  paulicians  give  them  the  name 
from  some  unknown  teacher;  but  there  seems  scarce  a 
doubt,  that  they  took  the  name  from  St.  Paul  himself. 
For  Constantine  gave  himself  the  name  of  Sylvanus; 
and  his  disciples  were  called  Titus,  Timothy,  Tychi- 
cus,  the  names  of  the  apostle's  fellow  labourers;  and  the 
pames  of  the  apostolic  churches  were  given  to  the 
congregations  formed  by  their  labours  in  Armenia  and 
Cappadocia.  Their  enemies  called  them  gnostics  or 
manichees;  and  confounded  them  with  those  ancient 
sectaries,  of  whom  it  is  probable  that,  there  were  then 
scarce  any  remains.  It  has  been  too  customary  to  con- 
nect different  and  independent  sects  into  one;  and  to 
suppose,  that  every  new  phenomenon  in  religion  is  no- 
thing more  than  the  revival  of  some  former  party.  This 
is  frequently  the  case,  but  not  always.  In  the  present 


201 

#         '*■  ^ 

instance,  I  see  reason  to  suppose  the  paulicians  to 
have  been  perfect  originals,  in  regard  to  any  other  de- 
nomination of  christians.  Tiie  Httle,  that  has  already 
been  mentioned  concerning  them,  carries  intirely  this 
appearance;  and,  I  hope,  it  may  shortly  be  evident, 
that  they  originated  from  an  heavenly  influence,  teach- 
ing and  converting  them;  and  that,  in  them,  w^e  have 
one  of  those  extraordinary  effusions  of  the  divine 
Spirit,  by  which  the  knowledge  of  Christ  and  the  prac- 
tice of  godliness  is  kept  alive  in  the  world.  The  pau- 
licians are  said  to  have  rejected  the  two  epistles  of  St. 
Peter.  We  know  nothing  of  these  men,  but  from  the 
pens  of  their  enemies.  Their  writings,  and  the  lives  of 
their  eminent  teachers  are  totally  lost.  In  this  case, 
common  justice  requires  us  to  suspend  our  belief;  and, 
if  internal  evidence  militate  in  their  favour,  a  strong 
presumption  is  formed  against  the  credibility  of  a  re- 
port, raised  to  their  disadvantage.  This  is  the  case  in 
the  present  instance:  for,  there  is  nothing  in  St.  Peter's 
writings,  that  could  naturally  prejudice,  against  those 
wisitings,  persons,  who  cordially  received  the  epistles  of 
St.  Paul.  There  is,  on  the  other  hand,  the  most  perfect 
coincidence  of  sentiment  and  spirit  between  the  two 
apostles;  and,  in  the  latter  epistle  of  St.  Peter,  toward 
the  end,  there  is  a  very  remarkable  testimony  to  the 
inspired  character  and  divine  wisdom  of  St.  Paul.  That 
this  sect  also  despised  the  whole  of  the  old  testament, 
is  asserted,  but  on  grounds,  which  seem  utterly  unwar- 
rantable. For,  they  are  said  to  have  done  this  as  gnos- 
tics and  manichees,  though  they  steadily  condemned 
the  manichees,  and  complained  of  the  injustice,  which 
branded  them  with  that  odious  name.  They  are  also 
charged  with  holding  the  eternity  of  matter,  and  the 
existence  of  two  independent  principles;  and  with  de- 
nying the  real  sufferings  and  real  flesh  of  Christ.  It 
seems  no  way  was  found  so  convenient  to  disgrace 
them,  as  by  the  charge  of  manicheism.  But  I  can- 
not believe  that  they  held  these  tenets;  not  only  be- 
cause they  themselves  denied  the  charge,  but  also  be- 
cause they  unquestionablj'  held  things  perfectly  incon- 


202 

m 

sistejit  with  sucii  notions.  Is  it  possible,  that  rational 
creatures,  men  indued  with  common  understanding, 
could  agree  to  revere  the  writings  of  St.  Paul,  and 
to  consider  them  as  divinely  inspired,  and  at  the  same 
time  to  condemn  those  of  the  old  testament? 

The  reader,  who  is  moderately  versed  in  scripture, 
need  not  be  told,  that  the  apostle  is  continually  quo- 
ting the  old  testament,  expounding  and  illustrating, 
and  building  his  doctrines  upon  it:  in  short,  that  the 
new  testament  is  so  indissolubly  connected  with  the 
old,  that  he,  who  despises  the  latter,  cannot  really, 
whatever  he  may  pretend,  respect  the  former  as  di- 
vine; and  that  this  observation  holds  good  in  regard 
to  all  the  writers  of  the  new  testament,  and  to  St.  Paul 
still  more  particularly.  It  is  allowed  also,  that  the 
paulicians  held  the  common  orthodox  doctrine  of  the 
Trinity,  with  the  confession  and  use  of  which  the 
whole  apparatus  of  the  manichean  fable  seems  incom- 
patible. Let  the  reader  reflect  only  on  the  light  in 
which  manicheism  appeared  to  Augustine  of  Hippo, 
after  he  became  acquainted  with  St.  Paul,  and  he  vwll 
probably  form  a  just  estimate  of  this  whole  subject. 

This  people  also  were  perfectly  free  from  the  image 
worship,  which  more  and  more  pervaded  the  east. 
They  were  simply  scriptural  in  the  use  of  the  sacra- 
ments: they  disregarded  relics,  and  all  the  fashionable 
equipage  of  superstition;  and  they  knew  no  other 
mediator,  but  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 

Sylvanus  preached  with  great  success.  Pontus  and 
Cappadocia,  regions  once  renowned  for  christian  pi- 
ety, were  again  enlightened  through  his  labours.  He 
and  his  associates  were  distinguished  from  the  clergy 
of  that  day,  by  their  scriptural  names,  modest  titles, 
zeal,  knowledge,  activity,  and  holiness.  Their  congre- 
gations were  diffused  over  the  provinces  of  Asia  Mi- 
nor to  the  west  of  the  Euphrates:  six  of  the  principal 
churches  were  called  by  the  names  of  those,  to  whom 
St.  Paul  addressed  his  epistles:  and  Sylvanus  resided 
in  the  neighbourhood  of  Colonia  in  Pontus.  Roused 


203 

m      

by  the  growing  importance  of  the  sect,  the  Greek 
emperors  began  to  persecute  the  paulicians  with  the 
most  sanguinary  severity;  and,  under  christian  forms 
and  names,  they  reacted  the  scenes  of  Galerius  and 
Maximin.  "  To  their  other  excellent  deeds,"  says 
the  bigoted  Peter,  the  Sicilian,  "  the  divine  and  or- 
thodox emperors  added  this  virtue,  that  they  ordered 
the  montanists  and  manicheans*  to  be  capitally  pun- 
ished; and  their  books,  wherever  found,  to  be  com- 
mitted to  the  flames:  also,  that  if  any  person  was  found 
to  have  secreted  them,  he  was  to  be  put  to  death,  and 
his  goods  to  be  confiscated.  False  religion,  in  all  ages, 
hates  the  light,  and  supports  herself  by  persecution, 
not  by  instruction;  while  the  real  truth,  as  it  is  in 
Jesus,  always  comes  to  the  light  of  scripture,  and 
exhibits  that  light  plainly  to  the  world  by  reading  and 
expounding  the  sacred  volume,  whence  alone  she  de- 
rives her  authority. 

A  Greek  officer,  named  Simeon,  armed  with  impe- 
rial authority,  came  to  Colonia,  and  apprehended  Syl- 
vanus  and  a  number  of  his  disciples.  Stones  were  put 
into  the  hands  of  these  last,  and  they  we^-e  required 
to  kill  their  pastor,  as  the  price  of  their  forgiveness. 
A  person,  named  Justus,  was  the  only  one  of  the 
number  who  obeyed;  and  he  stoned  to  death  the  fa- 
ther of  the  paulicians,  who  had  laboured  twenty- seven 
years.  Justus  signaziled  himself  still  more  by  betray- 
ing his  brethren;  while  Simeon,  struck,  no  doubt, 
with  the  evidences  of  divine  grace  apparent  in  the  suf- 
ferers, embraced,  at  length,  the  faith  which  he  came 
to  destroy,  gave  up  the  world,  preached  the  gospel, 
and  died  a  martyr.  For  an  hundred  and  fifty  years 
these  servants  of  Christ  underwent  the  horrors  of  per- 
secution, with  christian  patience  and  meekness;  and 
if  the  acts  of  their  martyrdom,  their  preaching,  and 
their  lives  were  distinctly  recorded,  there  seems  no 

•  Such,  I  suppose,  were  the  opprobrious  names  given  to  the  paulicians. 
The  real  montanists  had  originated  in  the  second  century,  and  had  pro- 
bably now  no  existence.  We  see  here  a  farther  proof  of  the  vaijue  an<i 
delusory  modes  of  criminating  the  paulicjarr!. 


204 

m 

doubt,  but  this  people  would  appear  to  have  resem- 
bled those,  whom  the  church  justly  reveres  as  having 
suffered  in  the  behalf  of  Christ  during  the  three  first 
centuries.  During  all  this  time  the  power  of  the  spirit 
of  God  was  with  them;  and  they  practised  the  pre- 
cepts of  the  13th  chapter  to  thci  Romans,  as  well  as 
believed  and  felt  the  precious  truths  contained  in  the 
doctrinal  chapters  of  the  same  epistle.  The  blood  of 
the  martyrs  was,  in  this  case,  as  formerly,  the  seed  of 
the  church:  a  succession  of  teachers  and  congregations 
arose,  and  a  person  named  Sergius,  who  laboured 
among  them  thirty  three  years,  is  confessed  by  the 
bigoted  historians  to  have  been  a  man  of  extraordinary 
virtue.  The  persecution  had,  however,  some  inter- 
missions, till  at  length  Theodora,  the  same  empress, 
who  fully  established  image  worship,  exerted  herself 
beyond  any  of  her  predecessors  against  the  paulicians. 
Her  inquisitors  ransacked  the  Lesser  Asia,  in  search 
of  these  sectaries;  and  she  is  computed  to  have  killed 
by  the  gibbet,  by  fire,  and  by  sword,  a  hundred  thou- 
sand persons. 

We  hav£  brought  down  the  scanty  history  of  this 
people  to  about  the  year  845.  To  undergo  a  constant 
scene  of  persecution  with  christian  meekness,  and  to 
render  both  to  God  and  to  Cesar  their  dues  all  the 
time,  at  once  require  and  evidence  the  strength  of  real 
grace.  Of  this  the  paulicians  seem  to  have  been  pos- 
sessed till  the  period  just  mentioned.  They  remem- 
bered the  injunction  of  Rev.  xiii.  10.  He  that  killeth 
with  the  sword,  must  be  killed  with  the  sword:  here 
is  the  faith  and  patience  of  the  saints.  Let  christians 
believe,  rejoice  in  God,  patiently  suffer,  return  good 
for  evil,  and  still  obey  those,  whom  God  hath  set  over 
them.  These  weapons  have  ever  been  found  too  hard 
for  Satan:  the  church  has  grown  exceedingly,  wher- 
ever they  were  faithfully  handled ;  and  the  power  of 
the  gospel  has  prevailed.  This  was  the  case  very  emi- 
nently with  the  church,  in  the  era  of  Dioclesian's 
persecution.  She  not  only  outlived  the  storm,  but 
also,  under  the  conduct  of  providence,  became  exter- 


205 

Dally,  as  well  as  internally  superior  to  her  enemies.  If 
the  paulicians  had  continued  to  act  thus,  similar  con.- 
sequences  might  have  been  rationally  expected^  But 
faith  and  patience  failed  at  length.  We  are  ignorant  of 
the  steps  by  which  they  were  gradually  betrayed  into 
a  secular  spirit.  About  the  year  845,  they  murdered 
two  persecutors,  a  governor  and  a  bishop:  and  a  sol- 
dier called  Carbeas,  who  commanded  the  guards  in 
the  imperial  armies,  that  he  might  revenge  his  father's 
death,  who  had  been  slain  by  the  inquisitors,  formed 
a  band  of  paulicians,  who  renounced  their  allegiance 
to  the  emperor,  negotiated  with  the  mahometan  pow- 
ers, and,  by  their  assistance,  endeavoured  to  establish 
the  independency  of  the  sect. 

Theodora  was  succeeded  by  her  son  Michael:  her 
cruelties  and  superstitions  deserved  the  applause  of 
Nicolas,  who  became  pope  of  Rome  in  858.  In  a  let- 
ter he  highly  approved  her  conduct,  and  admired  her 
for  following  the  documents  of  the  holy  see.*  So  truly 
was  antichristian  tyranny  now  established  at  Rome! 
Michael,  the  son  of  Theodora,  fled  before  the  arms  of 
Carbeas;  and  Chrysocheir,  the  successor  of  the  latter, 
in  conjunction  with  the  mahometans,  penetrated  into 
the  heart  of  Asia,  and  desolated  the  fairest  provinces 
of  the  Greeks.  In  the  issue,  however,  Chrysocheir  was 
slain,  the  paulician  fortress  Tephrice  was  reduced,  and 
the  power  of  the  rebels  was  broken,  though  a  number 
of  them  in  the  mountains,  by  the  assistance  of  the 
Arabs,  preserved  an  uncomfortable  independence. 
The  ferocious  actions  of  the  later  paulicians  show, 
that  they  had  lost  the  spirit  of  tri;e  religion:  their 
schemes  of  worldly  ambition  were  likewise  frustrated. 
And  similar  consequences,  in  more  recent  ages,  may 
be  found  to  have  resulted  from  political  methods  of 
supporting  the  gospel. 

A  number  of  this  sect,  about  the  middle  of  the 
eighth  century,  had  been  transplanted  into  Thrace, 
who  subsisted  there  for  ages,  sometimes  tolerated,  at 

*  Bower's  Hist,  of  Popes. 

Vol..  III.  27 


206 

other  times  persecuted  by  the  reigning  powers.  Eveu 
to  the  end  of  the  seventeenth  century  they  still  existed 
about  the  valleys  of  Mount  Hasmus.  Of  their  religious 
history,  during  this  period  I  can  find  nothing:  and,  in 
our  days,  they  seem  to  have  nothing  more  of  the  pau- 
lician  sect  than  the  name.  I  cannot  follow  the  author, 
to  whom  I  owe  much  for  this  account,*  in  his  conjec- 
tures concerning  this  people's  dispersion  through  the 
European  provinces.  Nor  does  there  seem  any  good 
evidence  of  the  waldenses  owing  their  origin  to  the 
paulicians.  Such  speculations  are  too  doubtful  to  sa- 
tisfy the  minds  of  those,  who  prefer  solid  evidence 
of  facts  to  the  conjectural  ebullitions  of  a  warm  ima- 
gination. 

On  the  whole,  we  have  seen,  in  general,  satisfactory 
proof  of  the  work  of  divine  grace  in  Asia  Minor,  com- 
mencing in  the  latter  end  of  the  seventh  century,  and 
extended  to  the  former  part  of  the  ninth  century.  But, 
where  secular  politics  begin,  there  the  life  and  simplici- 
ty of  vital  godliness  end.  When  the  paulicians  began  to 
rebel  against'  the  established  government;  to  return 
evil  for  evil;  to  f  mingle  among  the  heathen, 
the  mahometans;  and  to  defend  their  own  religion  by 
arms,  negotiations,  and  alliances,  they  ceased  to  be- 
come the  LIGHT  OF  THE  WORLD,  aiid  the  salt  of  the 
earth.  Such  they  load  been  for  more  than  a  hundred 
and  eighty  years,  adorning  and  exemplifying  the  real 
gospel,  by  a  life  of  faith,  hope,  and  charity,  and  by  the 
preservation  of  the  truth  in  a  patient  course  of  sufter 
ing.  They  looked  for  true  riches  and  honour  in  the 
world  to  come;  and,  no  doubt,  they  are  not  frustrated 
of  their  hope.  But,  when  secular  maxims  began  to 
prevail  among  them,  they  shone,  for  a  time,  as  he- 
roes, and  patriots  in  the  false  glare  of  human  praise; 
but  they  lost  the  solidity  of  true  honour,  as  all 
have  done  in  all  ages,  who  have  descended  from  the 
grandeur  of  the  passive  spirit  of  conformity  to  Christ. 

*  Gibbon.  f  Psalm,  cvi.  ver.  35. 


207 


and  have  preferred  to  that  sph'it  the  low  ambition  oi 
earthly  greatness.* 


CHAP.  III. 

The  Opposition  made  to  the  Corruptions  of  Popery  in  this 
Century,  particularly  by  Claudius,  Bishop  of  Turin. 

W  E  have  seen  the  light  of  divine  truth  shedding 
its  kindly  influence  in  the  east:  let  us  now  behold  the 
reviving  power  of  its  beams  in  tlie  west.  We  must 
not  expect  to  observe  it  generally  illuminating  either 
of  those  two  great  divisions  of  the  christian  world,  but 
only  shining  in  some  particular  districts.  The  abso- 
lute power  of  the  pope,  the  worship  of  images,  and 
the  invocation  of  saints  and  angels  were  opposed,  as 
in  the  last  century,  by  sc\'eral  princes  and  ecclesias- 
tics. A  council  at  Paris,  held  in  the  year  824,  agreed 
with  the  council  of  Frankfort  in  the  rejection  of  the 
decrees  of  the  second  council  of  Nice,  and  in  the  pro- 
hibition of  image  worship.  Agobard,  archbishop  of 
Lyons,  wrote  a  book  against  the  abuse  of  pictures  and 
images;  in  which  he  maintained,  that  we  ought  not  to 
worship  any  image  of  God,  except  that,  which  is  God 
himself,  his  eternal  Son;  and,  that  there  is  no  other 
mediator  between  God  and  man,  except  Jesus  Christ, 
both  God  and  man.  I  have  already  observed,  that  the 
novel  notion  of  transubstantiation  was  vigorously  op- 
posed by  Rabanus  and  Scotus  Erigena,  the  two  most 
learned  men  of  the  west  in  this  century;  nor  was  that 

*  Natalis  Alexander,  a  voluminous  Frencli  historian,  and  more  vehe- 
mently attached  to  the  popedom,  than  Frenchmen  commonly  are,  couples 
the  paulicians  and  also  Claudius  of  Turin,  of  whom  the  reader  will  hear 
in  the  next  chapter,  with  wickliffites,  lutherans,  and  calvinists.  He  brands 
them  as  enemies  to  the  adoration  of  the  cross  of  Christ,  which,  he  says, 
the  true  church  always  adored,  "  not  only  the  genuine  cross,  but  an  effigy 
of  it,  as  soon  as  the  church  obtained  liberty  under  christian  princes.''  Tom. 
V.  p.  636 — 638.  This  deserves  to  be  considered  as  tiie  testimony  of  a 
learned  adversary  to  the  evangelical  character  of  the  paulicians,  and  of 
Claudius  of  Turin. 


208 

doctrine,  as  yet,  established  in  the  kingdom  of  anti- 
christ. Radanus  treats  it  as  an  upstart  opinion:  it  may 
be  proper  to  add,  that  Bertram,  a  monk  of  Corbie, 
being  asked  whether  the  same  body,  which  was  cru- 
cified, was  received  in  the  mouth  of  the  faithful  in  the 
sacrament,  answered,  that  "  the  difference  is  as  great 
as  between  the  pledge,  and  the  thing  for  which  the 
pledge  is  delivered;  as  great  as  between  the  represen- 
tation and  the  reality."  No  protestant,  at  this  day, 
could  speak  more  explicitly  the  sense  of  the  primitive 
church.  In  Italy  itself,  Angilbertus,  bishop  of  Milan, 
refused  to  own  the  pope's  supremacy,  nor  did  the 
church  of  Milan  submit  to  the  Roman  see  till  two  hun- 
dred years  afterwards. *^ 

But  these  are  only  distant  and  remote  evidences, 
that  God  had  not  forsaken  his  church  in  Europe. 
There  want  not,  however,  more  evident  demonstra- 
tions of  the  same  thing  in  the  life  and  writings  of 
Claudius,  bishop  of  Turin,  a  character  worthy  to  be 
held  in  high  estimation  by  all,  who  fear  God:  but  so 
little  justice,  in  our  times,  is  done  to  godliness,  that 
while  the  names  of  statesmen,  heroes,  and  philosophers 
are  in  every  one's  mouth,  the  name  of  this  great  re- 
former has,  probably,  been  not  so  much  as  heard  of, 
by  the  generality  of  my  readers.  To  me  he  seems  to 
stand  the  first  in  the  order  of  time  among  the  re- 
formers. Let  us  collect  the  little  information  concern- 
ing him,  which  we  have  been  able  to  obtain. 

Claudius  was  born  in  Spain.  In  his  early  years  he 
was  a  chaplain  in  the  court  of  Lewis  the  Meek:  he 
was  reputed  to  have  great  knowledge  in  the  scrip- 
tures;! in  so  much,  that  Lewis  perceiving  the  igno- 
rance of  a  great  part  of  Italy,  in  regard  to  the  doctrines 
of  the  gospel,  says  Fleury,  and  willing  to  provide  the 

*  I  have  thus  far,  in  this  chapter,  availedmyselfof  the  labours  of  bisliop 
Newton  on  the  prophecies,  3d  vol.  15i,  &c.  In  the  sequel  of  the  chapter, 
1  make  use  of  the  remarks  of  Alhx  on  the  churches  of  Piedmont,  of  the 
centuriators,  and  of  Flt-ury,  though  a  Roman  catholic. 

f  Fleury,  vol.  v.  b.  47.  In  this  and  some  otlier  matters,  the  testimony 
of  a  Roman  catholic  to  the  character  of  the  first  protestant  reformer,  is 
of  great  weight. 


209 

churches  of  piedmont  with  one,  who  might  stem  the 
growing  torrent  of  image  worship,  promoted  Claudius 
to  the  see  of  Turin,  about  the  year  817.  Claudius  an- 
swered the  expectations  of  the  emperor:  by  his  wri- 
tings, he  copiously  expounded  the  scriptures:  by  his 
preaching,  he  laboriously  instructed  the  people;  "  in 
truth,"  says  Fieury,  "  he  began  to  preach  and  instruct 
with  great  application."  The  calumnies,  with  which 
his  principles  were  aspersed,  are  abundantly  confuted 
by  his  commentaries  on  various  parts  of  the  old  and 
new  testament,  still  extant  in  manuscripts,  in  various 
French  libraries.  A  comment  on  the  epistle  to  the 
Galatians,  is  his  only  work  which  was  committed  to 
the  press.  In  it  he  every  where  asserts  the  equality  of 
all  the  apostles  with  St.  Peter.  And,  indeed,  he  always 
owns  Jesus  Christ  to  be  the  only  proper  head  of  the 
church.  He  is  severe  against  the  doctrine  of  human 
merits,  and  of  the  exaltation  of  traditions  to  a  height 
of  credibility  equal  to  that  of  the  divine  word.  He 
maintains  that  we  are  to  be  saved  by  faith  alone;  holds 
the  fallibility  of  the  church,  exposes  the  futility  of 
praying  for  the  dead,  and  the  sinfulness  of  the  idola- 
trous practices  then  supported  by  the  Roman  see. 
Such  are  the  sentiments  found  in  his  commentary  on 
the  epistle  to  the  Galatians. 

In  his  commentary  on  St.  Matthew,  besides  an  ex- 
plication of  the  sacrament,  very  different  from  that  of 
Paschasius,  who  defended  transubstantiation,  about 
sixteen  years  after,  we  meet  with  some  pious  senti- 
ments  worth  transcribing.  The  words,  "  I  will  no 
more  drink  of  the  fruit  of  the  vine,  till  that  day  that  I 
drink  it  new  with  you  in  my  Father's  kingdom,"  he 
paraphrases  thus:  "  No  longer  will  I  delight  in  the 
carnal  ceremonies  of  the  synagogue,  among  which 
the  paschal  lamb  was  most  distinguished;  for  the 
time  of  my  resurrection  is  at  hand;  that  day  will  come,*^ 
when,  placed  in  the  kingdom  of  God,  exalted  to  the 
glory  of  immortal  life,  1  shall  be  filled  with  a  new 
joy,  together  with  you,  on  account  of  the  salvation  of 
the  people  born  again  from  the  fountain  of  the  same 


210 

spiritual  grace.  What  else  does  he  mean  by  new 
wine,  but  the  immortality  of  renewed  bodies?  By  say- 
ing "  with  you,"  he  promises  them  the  resurrection 
of  their  bodies,  that  they  might  put  on  immortality. 
The  expression,  "  with  you,"  must  not  be  referred  to 
the  same  time,  but  to  the  same  event  of  the  renewal 
of  the  body.  The  apostle  declares  that  we  are  risen 
with  Christ,  that  by  the  expectation  of  the  future  he 
might  bring  present  joy."* 

In  the  end  of  his  commentary  on  Leviticus,  dedi- 
cated to  the  abbot  Thcodemir,  he  writes  some  things, 
which  may  exhibit  and  illustrate  his  cares  and  labours 
in  the  support  of  real  godliness. 

"  The  beauty  of  the  eternal  truth  and  wisdom,  (God 
grant  I  may  always  have  a  constant  will  to  enjoy  her, 
for  the  love  of  whom  I  have  undertaken  this  work!) 
doth  not  exclude  those  who  come  to  her:  she  is  near 
to  all,  who  seek  her  from  the  ends  of  the  earth:  she 
instructs  within,  and  converts  those,  who  behold  her. 
No  man  can  judge  of  her;  no  man  can  judge  well 
■without  her.  We  are  not  commanded  to  go  to  the 
creature,  that  we  may  be  happy,  but  to  the  Creator, 
who  alone  can  fill  us  with  bliss.  The  will  fastening 
itself  on  the  unchangeable  good,  obtains  happiness. 
But  Avhen  the  will  separates  itself  from  the  unchange- 
able good,  and  seeks  her  own  good  exclusively,  or 
directs  herself  to  inferior  or  external  good,  she  falls 
from  God."  These  truths,  conceived  in  the  very  taste 
of  the  bishop  of  Hippo,  are  followed  by  a  long  quota- 
tion from  that  father,  which  expressly  forbids  the  wor- 
ship of  saints;  the  substance  of  which  is  thus  expres- 
sed, "  We  must  honour  them,  because  they  deserve 
to  be  imitated,  not  worship  them  with  an  act  of  reli- 
gion. W^e  envy  not  their  bliss,  because  they  enjoy 
God  without  molestation,  but  we  love  them  the  more, 
because  we  hope  for  something,  correspondent  to 
these  their  excellencies,  from  him,  who  is  our  God  as 

*  This  can  hardly  be  allowed  to  be  the  whole  of  St.  Paul's  meaning,  in 
the  expression  "  risen  with  Christ;"  nevertheless,  the  ideas  of  Claudius 
are  g'ood,  so  far  as  he  goes. 


211 

well  as  theirs."  These  things,  says  Claudius,  are  the 
strongest  mysteries  of  our  faith.  In  defending  this 
truth,  I  am  become  a  reproach  to  my  neighbours; 
those,  who  see  me,  scoff  at  me,  and  point  at  me  to 
one  another.  But  the  Father  of  mercies  and  the  God  of 
all  consolations,  has  comforted  me  in  my  tribulation,* 
that  I  may  be  able  to  comfort  others,  that  are  oppres- 
sed with  sorrow  and  affliction.  I  rely  on  the  protec- 
tion of  Him,  who  has  armed  me  with  the  armour  of 
righteousness  and  of,  faith,  the  tried  shield  for  my  eter- 
nal salvation." 

Complaints  had,  it  seems,  been  made  against  Clau- 
dius, at  the  court  of  Lewis,  for  having  broken  down 
images  through  his  diocese,  and  for  having  written 
against  the  worship  of  them.  Being  reproached  by 
Theodemir  for  his  conduct,  Claudius  wrote  an  apo- 
logy, of  which  the  following  is  an  extract. f  "  Being 
obliged  to  accept  the  bishopric,  when  I  came  to  Turin, 
I  found  all  the  churches  full  of  abominations  and 
images;  and  because  I  began  to  destroy  what  every 
one  adored,  every  one  began  to  open  his  mouth  against 
me.  They  say,  we  do  not  believe,  that  there  is  any 
thing  divine  in  the  image;  w^e  only  reverence  it  in 
honour  of  the  person,  whom  it  represents.  I  answer, 
if  they,  who  have  quitted  the  worship  of  devils,  ho- 
nour the  images  of  saints,  they  have  not  forsaken 
idols,  they  have  only  changed  the  names.  For  whe- 
ther you  paint  upon  a  wall  the  pictures  of  St.  Peter  or 
St.  Paul,  or  those  of  Jupiter,  Saturn,  or  Mercury, 
they  are  now  neither  gods,  nor  apostles,  nor  men. 
The  name  is  changed,  the  error  continues  the  same. 
If  men  must  be  adored,  there  would  be  less  absurdity 
in  adoring  them  when  alive,  while  they  are  the  image 
of  God,  than  after  they  are  dead,  when  they  only  re- 
semble stocks  and  stones.  And  if  we  are  not  alloAved 
to  adore  the  works  of  God,  much  less  are  we  allowed 
to  adore  the  works  of  men.  If  the  cross  of  Christ 
ought  to  be  adored,  because  he  was  nailed  to  it,  for 

*  2  Cor.  i.  t  Fleui  y. 


212 

the  same  reason  we  ought  to  adore  mangers,  because 
he  was  laid  in  one;  and  swaddling  clothes,  because  he 
was  wrapped  in  them."  He  goes  on  to  mention  other 
similar  instances,  and  adds,  "  we  have  not  been  or- 
dered to  adore  the  cross,  but  to  bear  it,  and  to  deny 
ourselves.  As  to  your  assertion,  that  I  speak  against 
the  going  to  Rome  by  way  of  penance,  it  is  not  true; 
T  neither  approve  nor  disapprove  such  pilgrimages; 
to  some  they  are  not  useful,  to  others  they  are  not 
prejudicial.  It  is  a  great  perversion  of  the  words 
"  thou  art  Peter,"  Sec.  to  infer  from  them,  that  eternal 
life  is  to  be  gained  by  a  journey  to  Rome,  and  by  the 
intercession  of  St.  Peter.  The  apostolic,  that  is,  the 
pope,  is  not  he,  who  fills  the  see  of  the  apostle,  but  he, 
who  discharges  its  duties." 

Such,  says  Fleury,  were  the  errors  of  Claudius  of 
Turin.  He  then  tells  us,  that  they  were  refuted  by  a 
recluse  called  Dungal.  He  gives  us  a  few  extracts 
from  this  writer,  which  it  will  be  perfectly  needless  to 
recite;  for,  as  Fleury  owns,  Dungal  hardly  makes  use 
of  any  thing  else  but  citations,  and  *'  in  truth,"  conti- 
nues he,  "  the  main  proofs  in  this  matter  have  always 
been  the  tradition  and  constant  usage  of  the  church." 
In  the  judgment  of  men  who  determine  controversies, 
which  enter  into  the  essence  of  Christianity  by  the 
scriptures  alone,  the  victory  of  Claudius  in  this  dispute 
is  decisive. 

We  are  obliged,  however,  to  Dungal,  for  the  preser- 
vation of  the  extracts  of  the  apology.  In  addition  to  the 
argumentative  parts,  there  are  also  some  pathetic  ex- 
hortations interspersed  in  the  work,  which  show  the  ar- 
dor of  the  bishop's  mind  and  the  charitable  zeal  for 
divine  truth  and  for  the  salvation  of  souls,  with  which 
he  was  endowed.  I  shall  present  the  reader  with  a  few 
sentences.*  "  All  these  things  are  ridiculous,  rather 
worthy  of  lamentation  than  of  gra^'e  discussion;  but  we 
are  obliged  to  describe  them,  in  opposition  to  fools, 
and  to  declaim  against  those  hearts  of  stone,  whom 


AUix. 


213 

the  arrows  and  sentences  of  the  divine  word  cannot 
pierce,  and  therefore  we  are  under  a  necessity  to  as- 
sault them  in  this  manner.  Come  to  yourselves  again, 
ye  wretched  transgressors:  why  are  ye  gone  astray 
from  truth,  and  are  fallen  in  love  with  vanity?  why  do 
you  make  souls,  by  troops,  to  become  the  associates  of 
devils,  by  the  horrible  sacrilege  of  your  idols,  estran- 
ging them  from  their  Creator,  and  precipitating  them 
into  everlasting  damnation?  Return,  ye  blind,  to  your 
light.  Shall  we  not  believe  God,  when  he  swears,  that 
neither  Noah,  nor  Daniel,  nor  Job*  shall  deliver  son 
or  daughter  by  their  righteousness?  For  this  end  he 
makes  the  declaration,  that  none  might  put  confidence 
in  the  intercession  of  saints.  Ye  fools  who  run  to  Rome, 
to  seek  there  for  the  intercession  of  an  apostle,  when 
will  ye  be  wise?  What  would  saint  Augustine  say  of 
you,  whom  we  have  so  often  quoted?" 

If  the  works  of  this  great  and  good  man  had  been 
published  as  faithfully  as  those  of  his  adversaries,  I 
doubt  not  but  he  would  appear  to  us  in  a  much  more 
sriking  light  than  he  can  do  from  a  few  imperfect  quo- 
tations. But  his  writings  were  either  suppressed  or  se- 
creted. The  reign  of  idolatry  had  taken  place,  and  the 
world  worshipped  the  beast.  The  labours,  how- 
ever, of  Claudius,  were  not  in  vain:  he  checked  the 
growing  evil  in  his  own  diocese  at  least;  and  Ro- 
mish writers  have  owned,  that  the  valleys  of  Piedmont, 
which  belonged  to  his  bishopric,  preserved  his  opi- 
nions in  the  ninth  and  tenth  centuries.  Whence  it  is 
probable,  that  the  churches  of  the  waldenses  were 
either  derived,  or  at  least  received  much  increase  and 
confirmation  from  his  labours. 

If  we  look  at  the  subject  matter  of  this  bishop's 
preaching  and  expositions,  in  an  evangelical  view,  it 
will  appear,  that  the  controversy  between  him  and  his 
adversaries  was,  whether  man  shall  be  justified  before 

God  BY  JESUS   CHRIST   THROUGH    FAITH    ALONE,  OT 

whether  he  shall  betake  himself  to  other  refuges 

*  Ezek.  xiv. 

Vol.  hi.  28 


214 

for  the  peace  of  his  disquieted  conscience'.  What  those 
other  refuges  may  be,  will  much  depend  on  the  cus- 
toms and  habits  of  the  times  in  which  a  man  lives.  In 
an  age,  like  our  own,  of  great  civilization  and  refine- 
ment, they  will,  chiefly,  be  acts  of  humanity  and  kind- 
ness to  the  needy:  in  an  age  of  superstition,  they  will 
be  ceremonial  observances,  and  the  whole  apparatus  of 
WILL  WORSHIP.*  Against  the  false  reliefs  of  a  bur- 
dened conscience,  which  the  popedom  exhibited,  this 
first  protestant  reformer  militated  in  much  christian 
zeal,  and  pointed  out  to  his  hearers  and  his  readers 
the  mediation  of  Jesus  Christ,  as  the  sole  and  allsufli- 
cient  object  of  dependence.  With  what  success  this 
was  done  among  his  people  we  have  no  account;  but, 
doubtless,  so  great  a  light  was  not  set  up  in  vain;  and 
could  I  recite  the  effects  of  his  labours  in  Piedmont,  the 
account  would  in  all  probability  be  both  pleasing  and 
profitable  to  evangelical  minds.  Let  us  see  what  far- 
ther discoveries  we  can  make  of  his  spirit  and  views 
from  the  extracts  of  his  writings  drawn  from  another 
of  his  adversaries. 

Thisf  was  Jonas,  bishop  of  Orleans.  He  wrote 
three  books  against  Claudius,  filled  with  invectives.  He 
mentions,  however,  such  reasonings  made  use  of  by  his 
adversary,  as  it  was  not  in  his  power  to  overturn,  parti- 
cularly the  authority  of  the  second  commandment,  on 
which  hinge,  indeed,  the  whole  controversy  turns,  so 
far  as  it  relates  to  the  worship  of  images.  In  regaixi  to 
pilgrimages  to  Rome,  Claudius  observes,  that  the 
greater  part,  in  consequence  of  them,  become  worse 
men  than  they  were  before.  In  opposing  the  popedom, 
he  observes,  on  account  of  those  words  of  our  Lord, 
"  I  will  give  to  thee  the  keys,  &c."  ignorant  men,  for 
the  sake  of  obtaining  eternal  life,  setting  aside  all  spi- 
ritual understanding,  will  go  to  Rome."  Hence  we  see, 
that  the  power  of  the  popedom  was  much  founded  on 
the  misguided  consciences  of  men.  Persons  distres- 
sed, on  account  of  their  sins,  naturally  catch  at  every 

♦  See  Coloss.  ii.  f  Centuriat.  Magd.  cent.  ix. 


215 

support,  which  offers  them  relief.  And  the  true  light  of 
the  gospel  of  peace  no  longer  shining,  they  availed  them- 
selves of  the  delusory  consolations  offered  by  the  pope- 
dom; and  thus,  at  once,  gained  a  false  peace,  hardened 
themselves  in  real  vv^ickedness,  and  supported  the 
grandeur  of  antichrist.  What  a  blessing  is  the  real 
gospel!  It  both  consoles  and  sanctifies  the  sinner,  and 
removes  the  most  powerful  incitements  to  supersti- 
tion. But,  to  proceed  with  the  words  of  Claudius. 
"It  is  not  said,  "whatsoever  thou  shalt  bind  in  hea- 
ven, shall  be  bound  in  earth."  By  this  we  should 
know,  that  the  ministry  of  the  bishops  of  the  church, 
continues  only,  so  long  as  they  remain  upon  earth. 
After  they  have  left  this  world,  it  ceases:  St.  Peter 
has  no  longer  any  influence  in  the  government  of  the 
church  militant;  and  those,  who  succeed  in  the  vacant 
places,  exercise  the  oflSce,  so  long  as  they  live  indeed, 
but  no  longer."*  From  the  year  823,  Claudius  wrote 
against  the  prevailing  superstition,  and  lived  to  the 
year  839.  That  he  was  not  put  to  death  for  confessing 
the  real  faith  of  Christ,  seems  to  have  been,  under 
providence,  owing  to  the  protection  of  the  French 
court.  The  cause,  which  he  espoused,  was  still,  in 
part,  supported  in  the  western  churches;  and  the  Ro- 
man hierarchy  was  not  yet  able  to  establish  idolatry  in 
its  full  extent,  and  to  punish  all  its  opposers.  It  is 
proper  to  add,  that  even  the  adversaries  of  Claudius 
did  not  insist  on  the  worship  of  images;  they  only  as- 
serted, that  they  were  innocent  and  useful.  So  far 
were  the  decrees  of  the  papacy  from  being  owned  as 
decisive,  through  Europe.  At  the  same  time,  it  must 
be  confessed,  that  the  middle  path,  which  first  had  the 
sanction  of  Gregory,  and  was  afterwards  confirmed 

*  I  have  added  a  word  or  two  explanatory  of  the  meaning-,  which,  on 
account  of  the  imperfection  of  the  ([notation,  is  sufficiently  embarrassed. 
1  apprehend,  he  is  inferring;  from  tlie  real  woi'ds  of  our  Lord,  "  whatso- 
ever thou  shalt  bind  on  earth,  shall  be  bound  in  heaven,"  that  St.  Peter's 
episcopal  acts  terminated  with  his  life;  whereas,  if  it  had  been  said,  what- 
soever thou  shaU  bind  in  heaven,  shall  be  bound  on  earth,  some  counte- 
nance niig-ht  seem  to  be  given  to  the  idea  of  the  continuance  of  his  power 
on  earth,  hi  the  persons  of  his  successors.  Cent.  Mag.  Cent.  ix.  118. 


216 

by  the  Carolin  books  and  the  council  of  Frankfort, 
naturally  paved  the  way  for  the  gradual  establishment 
of  idolatry. 


CHAP.  IV, 

The' Case  of  Gotteschalcus. 

X  HE  subject  of  predestination  and  grace  had  been 
formerly  controverted,  in  the  churches  of  France,  with 
a  considerable  degree  of  acuteness  and  ingenuity,  and 
what  is  still  more  pleasing  to  a  christian  mind,  with 
seriousness,  candor,  and  charity.  We  have  seen 
with  what  zeal  the  doctrine  of  divine  grace  had  been 
defended  and  illustrated  by  the  followers  of  Au- 
gustine,  and  what  a  salutary  influence  had  attended 
that  doctrine  on  the  knowledge,  the  spirit,  and  the 
lives  of  christians.  It  has  appeared  also,  that  many, 
who,  partly  through  an  ill  grounded  fear  of  pernicious 
consequences,  and  partly  through  a  misunderstanding 
of  the  nature  of  the  subject,  were  averse  to  the  senti- 
ments of  Augustine,  did  still  sincerely  abhor  pela- 
gianism,  and,  with  an  happy  inconsistency,  lived 
humbly  dependent  on  divine  grace  alone,  though  they 
maintained  semipelagianism  in  their  sentiments.  But, 
as  superstition,  idolatry,  and  ignorance  increased,  the 
truly  evangelical  views  of  Augustine  were  more  and 
more  thrown  into  the  shade,  and  the  case  of  Gottes- 
chalcus  showed,  that  it  was  now  no  longer  permitted 
to  a  divine  to  promulge  the  sentiments  of  the  bishop 
of  Hippo  with  impunity. 

Gotteschalcus  was  born  in  Germany:  from  early 
life  he  had  been  a  monk;  and  had  devoted  himself  to 
theological  inquiries.  He  was  peculiarly  fond  of  the 
writings  of  Augustine,  and  entered  with  much  zeal 
into  his  sentiments.*  That  he  really  held  the  doctrines 

*  I  have  extracted  the  best  account  of  this  person  which  I  could,  from 
Fleury  and  Du  Pin,  both  Roman  catholic  writers:  I  have  availed  myself 


217 

of  that  father,  seems  evident  from  the  account,  which 
is  transmitted  to  us,  though  it  be  but  scanty.  He  ex- 
pressly owned,  that  the  wicked  were  condemned  for 
their  own  demerits:  and,  if  he  was  charged  with  mak- 
ing God  the  author  of  sin,  it  is  no  more  than  what 
befel  the  bishop  of  Hippo;  and  Fleury  himself  owns, 
that  he  was  misrepresented  by  his  adversaries.  The 
most  culpable  thing,  which  I  find  in  him,  if  indeed  a 
certain  confession  of  faith,  ascribed  to  him,  be  genu- 
ine, is  this,  that  he  offered  to  undergo  a  trial  by  fire, 
on  this  condition,  that  if  he  was  preserved  unhurt,  his 
doctrine  should  be  allowed  to  be  divine.  If  he  was 
really  guilty  of  this  enthusiastic  presumption,  the  issue 
of  the  persecution,  which  he  afterwards  underwent, 
was  calculated  to  humble  him,  and  cause  him  to  learn 
more  practically  than  he  had  ever  done,  the  real  power 
of  those  doctrines,  for  which  he  honestly  suffered. 

About  the  year  846,  he  left  his  monastery,  and  went 
into  Dalmatia  and  Pannonia,  where  he  spread  the 
doctrines  of  Augustine,  under  a  pretence,  it  was  said 
by  his  enemies,  of  preaching  the  gospel  to  the  infidels. 
At  his  return,  he  remained  some  time  in  Lombardy, 
and  in  847,  he  held  a  conference  with  Notingus,  bishop 
of  Vienne,  concerning  predestination.  His  zeal  gave 
offence  to  the  bishop,  who  prevailed  on  Rabanus,  the 
archbishop  of  Mentz,  to  undertake  the  confutation  of 
the  novel  heresy,  as  it  was  now  decreed.  Rabanus 
calumniated  Gotteschalcus  with  those  monstrous  and 
licentious  consequences,  with  which  the  doctrines  of 
divine  grace  have  in  all  ages  been  aspersed,  and  from 
which  St.  Paul  himself  was  not  exempted:  and  having 
dressed  the  sentiments  of  his  adversary  in  the  most 
odious  colours,  he  found  it  no  hard  task,  to  expose 
him  to  infamy.  The  learned  monk  undertook  to  de- 
fend himself  in  writing,  and  proposed  the  subject  to 

also  of  the  remarks  of  Mo.sheim:  from  the  writings  of  the  Magdubergen- 
sian  centuriators,  where  1  mii^ht  have  expected  the  most  equitable  and 
the  most  j.ust  account,  I  could  collect  nothing.  They  handle  the  subject 
briefly  and  confusedly,  and  join  with  the  enemies  of  Gotteschalcus  in  con- 
demning him,  without  affording  their  readers  any  proper  materials,  oh 
which  they  might  form  a  judgment  for  themselves. 


218 

the  consideration  of  the  most  able  men  of  his  time; 
and,  against  the  great  credit  and  authority  of  his  ad- 
versary, he  opposed  the  renowned  name  of  Augustine. 
But  no  cause  ever  appeared  with  more  disadvantage 
in  our  times  than  that  of  Gotteschalcus.  For  we  have 
not  his  treatise,  composed  against  Rabanus;  only  some 
fragments  of  it  have  been  preserved  to  us,  by  Hinc- 
mar,  archbishop  of  Rheims,  who,  the  reader  will  soon 
be  convinced,  was  not  a  man  fit  to  be  trusted  with 
the  care  of  the  reputation  of  Gotteschalcus.  In  a  synod 
held  at  Mentz,  the  latter  was  condemned;  and  Raba- 
nus observing  that  the  monk  was  of  the  diocese  of 
Soissons,  which  was  subject  to  the  archbishop  of 
Rheims,  sent  him  to  Hincmar,  calling  him  a  vaga- 
bond, and  declaring  that  he  had  seduced  several  per- 
sons, who  were  become  less  careful  of  their  salvation, 
since  they  had  learned  from  Gotteschalcus  to  say, 
why  should  I  labour  for  my  salvation?  If  I  am  pre- 
destinated to  damnation,  I  cannot  avoid  it;  and,  on 
the  contrary,  if  I  am  predestinated  to  salvation,  what- 
ever sins  I  am  guilty  of,  I  shall  certainly  be  saved.* 
Thus  have  I  in  a  few  words,  said  he,  showed  you  his 
doctrine. 

Hincmar  entered  fully  into  the  views  of  Rabanus; 
and,  in  a  council  of  bishops,  examined  Gotteschalcus, 
who  still  maintained  his  doctrine  with  firmness.  On 
this  account,  the  monk  was  condemned  as  an  heretic, 
degraded  from  the  priesthood,  and  ordered  to  be  beat- 
en with  rods  and  imprisoned.  As  nothing  however, 
was  proved  against  him,  except  his  adherence  to  the 
sentiments  of  Augustine,  which  were  still  held  in 
estimation  in  the  church,  this  shows,  says  Du  Pin, 
that  he  was  an  injured  man. 

And  now  the  presumptuous  boasts  of  Gotteschal- 
cus, if  they  were  his  boasts  indeed,  met   with   an 

•  It  is  evident,  that  such  reasoning'  as  this,  mi.^ht,  with  equal  plausi- 
bility, be  alleged  aguhist  the  doctrine  of  the  ninth  chapter  to  the  R(^mans. 
Whoever  would  see  this  method  of  arjjiimentation  sifted  to  the  bo'^tom, 
may  consult  the  admirable  analogy  of  Butler,  c.  vi  part  1.  who,  though  no 
predestinarian  in  his  sentiments,  candidii  atlmits,  and,  I  think,  irrefraga- 
bly  proves,  the  fallacy  of  the  vulgar  objections. 


219 

humiliating  check.  For,  while  he  was  whipped  in  the 
presence  oi"  the  emperor  Charles  and  the  bishops  with 
great  severity,  and  was  given  to  understand  that  he 
must  cast  into  the  lire  with  his  own  hand  a  writing, 
in  which  he  had  made  a  collection  of  scripture  texts, 
in  order  to  prove  his  opinion,  he,  at  length,  overpow- 
ered by  his  sufferings,  dropped  the  book  into  the 
flames;  after  which  he  was  kept  close  prisoner  by  Hinc- 
mar  in  a  monastery.  This  method  of  convincing  an 
heretic  of  his  errors,  seems,  however,  to  have  been 
by  no  means  satisfactory  to  him,  who  had  made  use 
of  it.  For  Hincmar  still  took  pains  to  persuade  Got- 
teschalcus,  to  retract  his  sentiments,  but  in  vain.  The 
injured  pastor  maintained,  with  his  last  breath,  the 
doctrine  for  which  he  suffered,  and  died  in  prison  in 
the  year  870.* 

Hincmar,  hearing  that  he  lay  at  the  point  of  death, 
sent  him  a  formulary,  which  he  was  to  subscribe,  in 
order  to  his  being  received  into  the  communion  of 
the  church.  Gotteschalcus  rejected  the  offer  with  in- 
dignation. He  refused  to  retract  to  the  last;  and  was 
denied  christian  burial,  by  the  orders  of  Hincmar. 

This  is  all  that  I  can  find  material  concerning  Got- 
teschalcus. That  he  was  an  humble  and  sincere  fol- 
lower of  Christ,  in  the  main,  will  scarce  be  doubted 
by  those,  who  make  a  fair  estimate  of  his  constancy 
in  suffering,  and  at  the  same  time  reflect,  that  no  moral 
turpitude  is  affixed  to  his  memory.  Even  in  that  age 
there  wanted  not  men,  who  remonstrated  loudly  against 
the  barbarity,  with  which  he  had  been  treated.  Re- 
migius,  archbishop  of  Lyons,  distinguished  himself 
among  these;  and,  in  a  council  held  at  Valence,  in 
Dauphiny,  in  the  year  855,  both  Gotteschalcus  and  his 
doctrine  were  vindicated  and  defended.  Two  subse- 
quent councils  confirmed  the  decrees  of  this  council. 
The  churches  of  Lyons,  Vienne,  and  Aries,  formerly 
renowned  for  piety,  vigorously  supported  the  senti- 
ments of  Gotteschalcus ;  and  it  was  apparent,  that  all 

*  Cave. 


f*' 


220 

relish  for  the  doctrines  of  grace  was  not  lost  in  the 
church.  It  is  very  extraordinary,  that  the  cause  of 
Gotteschalcus  should  prove,  in  the  end,  victorious, 
while  he  himself  remained  under  the  power  of  perse- 
cution. But  the  great  secular  influence  of  Hincmar, 
who  for  near  forty  years  presided  at  Rheims,  and 
made  himself  highly  useful  to  kings  and  princes,  seems 
to  account  for  this. 

It  won  d  be  uninteresting  to  detail  an  account  of 
the  writings  on  both  sides,  which  were  published  on 
the  occasion  of  this  controversy.  One  lesson  the  case 
before  us  is  peculiarly  calculated  to  teach,  namely,  not 
to  condemn  any  person  for  consequences,  which  others 
may  draw  from  his  doctrine,  and  which  he  himself 
both  speculatively  and  practically  disavows.  This  in- 
justice was  never  more  flagrantly  committed,  than  in 
the  transactions,  which  we  have  briefly  reviewed.  Of 
Hincmar,  much  information  indeed  is  left  us  in  eccle- 
siastical story;  but  I  do  not  seem  to  have  any  more 
employment  for  him  in  this  work,  than  I  have  for  the 
princes  of  France  and  Germany  of  that  period.  It  is 
not  hard  to  form,  on  the  whole,  some  estimate  of  the 
state  of  religion  at  that  time  in  France.  The  spirit  of 
Christianity  was  much  decayed;  but  there  were,  doubt- 
less, a  number  of  persons,  to  whom  Christ  and  his 
grace  were  precious :  and  the  influence  of  evangelical 
truth  was  still  so  strong,  that  all  the  cruelty,  activity, 
and  artifice  of  one  of  the  most  subtle  politicians  of 
that  age,  for  such  was  Hincmar,  were  not  able  to  ex- 
tirpate it. 


221 


CHAP.  V. 

The  Propagation  of  the  Gospel  in  this  Century. 

IN  this  century  the  churches  of  the  cast  and  west 
*  began  to  be  separated  from  one  another,  through  the 
pride  and  ambition  of  the  pontiffs  of  Rome  and  Con- 
stantinople. Of  such  a  division,  which  makes  a  great 
noise,  in  what  is  commonly  called  ecclesiastical  his- 
tory, it  is  sufficient  for  an  historian  of  the  church  of 
Christ,  to  say,  that  the  wound,  after  repeated  attempts, 
was  never  healed.  Both  the  east  and  the  west,  indeed, 
were  full  of  idolatry  and  darkness,  and  seemed  to  vie 
with  each  other  in  supporting  the  kingdom  of  Satan. 
Providence,  however,  made  use  of  the  ambitious  spirit 
of  the  prelates  for  the  still  more  extensive  propagation 
of  the  gospel.  In  this  chapter  I  shall  collect  the  infor- 
mation upon  this  subject,  which  may  be  extracted 
from  an  enormous  mass  of  ecclesiastical  rubbish;  and, 
at  the  same  time,  shall  lay  before  my  readers  some 
evidences  of  the  progress  of  the  goocl  work,  among 
the  nations,  which  had  been,  in  part,  evangelized  in 
the  two  last  centuries. 

Coiistantine,  afterwards  called  Cyril,  was  born  at 
'J'hessalonica,  of  a  Roman  family,  and  was  educated 
at  Constantinople.  In  846,  the  famous  Photius,  who 
by  much  iniquity,  at  length,  obtained  the  bishopric 
of  Constantinople,  envying  Ignatius,  at  that  time  bi- 
shop, disputed  in  opposition  to  him,  that  every  man 
had  two  souls.  Being  reproved  by  Cyril,  he  said,  that 
he  meant  not  to  hurt  any  one,  but  only'to  try  the  lo- 
gical abilities  of  Ignatius.  "  You  have  thrown  your 
darts  into  the  crowd,"  said  Cyril,  "  yet  pretend 
that  none  will  be  hurt.  How  keen  soever  the  eyes  of 
your  wisdom  be,  they  are  blinded  by  the  smoke  of 
avarice  and  envy.  Your  passion  against  Ignatius  has 
deceived  vou."  Cyril  indeed  seems  to  have  been  a^ 

Vot.  in.  2^ 


22i; 

much  superior  lo  Photius  in  piety,  as  he  was  his  infe- 
rior in  learning:  he  became  one  of  the  most  active  and 
useful  missionaries  of  this  century;  and  providence 
opened  to  him  a  door  of  solid  utility  among  the  idol- 
atrous nations.* 

The  Bulgarians  were  a  barbarous  and  savage  peo- 
ple, whose  neighbourhood  had  long  been  troublesome 
to  the  Greek  emperors.  The  sister  of  their  king  Bo- 
goris,  having  been  taken  captive  in  a  military  incur- 
sion, was  brought  to  Constantinople,  and  there  recei- 
ved Christianity.  Upon  her  redemption  and  return  to 
her  own  country,  she  gave  a  strong  evidence,  that  her 
change  of  religion  had  been  more  than  nominal.  She 
was  struck  with  grief  and  compassion,  to  see  the  king, 
her  brother,  enslaved  to  idolatry;  and  she  used  the 
most  cogent  arguments  in  her  power,  in  order  to  con- 
vince him  of  the  vanity  of  his  worship.  Bogoris  was 
affected  with  her  arguments;  but  was  not  prevailed 
upon  to  receive  the  gospel,  till,  a  famine  and  a  plague 
appearing  in  Bulgaria,  she  persuaded  him  to  pray  to 
the  God  of  the  christians.  He  did  so,  and  the  plague 
ceased.  There  was  something  so  remarkable  in  the 
event,  that  Bogoris  was  induced  to  send  for  mission- 
aries to  Constantinople;  and  at  length  received  bap- 
tism, together  with  many  of  his  people. y  Cyril  and 
his  devout  brother  Methodius,  were  the  instruments 
of  these  blessings  to  the  Bulgarians.  Bogoris  had  de- 
sired Methodius  to  draw  him  a  picture.  Methodius 
chose  for  his  subject  the  last  judgment,  and  explained 
it.  This  is  supposed  to  have  induced  the  king  to  re- 
ceive baptism.  The  event  happened  about  the  year 
861. J  That  same  pope  Nicolas,  who  so  warmly  ap- 
plauded the  sanguinary  exploits  of  the  empress  The- 
odora against  the  paulicians,  rejoiced  at  the  opportu- 
nity, which  this  religious  change  among  the  Bulgarians 
afforded  him  of  extending  his  inffuence.  He  sent  bi- 
shops, who  preached  and  baptized  throughout  the 
country:  and  Bogoris  sent  his  son  to  Rome,  with 

*  See  Alban  Butler,  vol.  xii.  f  Porphyrogennetus. 

/  i  See  Alban  Butler,  vol,  xii 


223 

many  lords:  lie  consulted  the  pope  on  a  variety  of 
subjects,  and  entreated  him  to  send  pastors  into  Bul- 
garia. Nicolas  rejoiced,  says  Fleury,*  not  only  on 
account  of  the  conversion  of  the  Bulgarians,  but  the 
more,  because  they  came  so  far  to  seek  instruction 
from  the  holy  see.  They  had,  however,  though  atten- 
ded with  many  superstitions,  the  word  of  God,  and 
the  name  of  Christ  introduced  among  them.  The  Sa- 
viour, in  some  sense,  was  preached,  notwithstanding 
that  pride  and  sinister  motives  predominated  altoge- 
ther in  the  Roman  see;  and  St.  Paul,  in  such  a  case, 
would  have  said,  "  I  therein  do  rejoice,  yea,  and  will 
rejoice."t  Nor  is  there  any  reason  to  believe,  that  all 
the  missionaries  would  be  no  less  corrupt  than  the 
pope:  on  the  contrary,  we  cannot  doubt  but  the  word 
was  not  preached  altogether  in  vain.  These  transac- 
tions took  place  about  the  year  866. 

About  the  same  time  Cyril,  and  his  brother  Metho- 
dius, missionaries  among  the  Bulgarians,  laboured 
also  among  the  Sclavonians  and  the  Chazari.J  These 
people  lived  on  the  banks  of  the  Danube,  and  begged 
the  emperor  Michael  III,  and  his  mother  Theodora, 
to  send  them  some  instructors.  Cyril  and  his  brother 
Methodius  were  sent  to  preach  to  them.  The  Cham 
and  his  whole  nation  were  baptized :  and  Cyril  gave 
a  noble  proof  of  his  disinterestedness  in  refusing  those 
presents,  which  the  munificence  of  the  prince  would 
have  heaped  upon  him.  See  Alban  Butler,  vol.  xii. 

Cyril  arriving  at  Chersona,  continued  there  some 
time,  to  learn  the  language  of  the  Chazari;  which  is 
supposed  to  have  been  the  Sclavonian  tongue,  because 
it  is  certain,  that  Constantine  translated  the  sacred 
books  into  that  language.  And  as  the  people  had 
not  then  the  use  of  letters,  he  invented  an  alphabet 
for  their  use,  and  was  very  successful  in  teaching 
Christianity  among  the  Chazari.  He  made  the  greater 
impression  on  their  minds,  because  of  the  unquestion- 
able proofs,  which  he  gave  them  of  his  disinterested- 

*  Fleurf ,  h.  1.  49.  f  P>"Up.  i.  18.  t  Fleury,  b.  1.  54. 


224 

ncss.  After  this,  Bartilas,  prince  of  Moravia,  under- 
sftanding  what  had  been  done  among  the  Chazari,  de- 
sired the  Greek  emperor  Michael  to  send  some  mis- 
sionaries to  instruct  his  people  likewise  in  Christianity. 
Michael  sent  the  same  Constantine  and  Methodius, 
who  carried  with  them  the  same  Sclavonian  gospel, 
taught  the  children  the  letters,  which  they  had  invented, 
laboured  in  their  mission,  and  instructed  the  people 
four  years  and  a  half. 

The  king  of  Moravia  was  baptized  with  many  of 
his  subjects.  Cyril  died  a  monk:  Methodius  was  con- 
secrated bishop  of  Moravia.  The  Sclavonian  tongue, 
invented  by  these  two  missionaries,  is,  to  this  day, 
used  in  the  liturgy  of  the  Moravians.  Comj^aint  was 
made  to  pope  John  VIIL  of  the  novelty  of  worshipping 
in  a  barbarous  tongue;  but  he  condescended  to  own 
himself  satisfied  with  the  reasons  assigned  by  the  mis- 
sionaries. Bogoris,  king  of  Bulgaria,  gave  up  his 
crown  about  the  year  880,  and  retired  into  a  monas- 
tery. Methodius,  after  a  long  course  of  labours,  died 
in  an  advanced  age.  See  iVlban  Butler,  vol.  xii. 

These  were  noble  works,  and  some  divine  unction, 
amidst  all  the  superstitions,  no  doubt,  attended  them. 
In  the  mean  time,  Nicolas  of  Rome,  and  Photius  of 
Constantinople,  two  of  the  proudest  men  of  any  age, 
were  acrimoniously  inveighing  against  one  another, 
and  striving  each  to  secure  to  himself  the  obedience 
of  the  new  converts.  There  is  reason  to  hope,  that  the 
missionaries  themselves  were  of  a  better  spirit:  and  if 
I  had  materials  of  their  transactions  before  me,  I  Avould 
present  them  with  pleasure  to  the  reader;  but  the 
squabbles  of  the  prelates  themselves,  for  ecclesiastical 
dominion,  and  the  effects  of  those  squabbles,  are  scarce 
worth  his  attention. 

It  appears  from  one  of  the  invectives  of  Photius, 
against  Nicolas,  that  the  Russians,  hitherto  barbarous 
and  savage,  had  received  a  christian  bishop,  and  were 
then  under  instructions.  Also,  about  the  year  867, 
certain  provinces  of  Dalmatia  sent  an  embassy  to  Con- 
stantinople, imploring  the  emperor  Basilius  to  supply 


225 

them  with  christian  teachers.  Their  request  was  grant- 
ed, and  the  pale  of  the  church  was  extended  through- 
out those  provinces.* 

If  we  turn  our  eyes  toward  the  countries,  which  had 
been  evangelized  in  the  last  century,  we  may  discern 
some  traces  of  the  spirit  of  godliness  still  remaining 
among  them.  Length  of  time,  under  the  influence  o£ 
natural  depravity,  had  not,  as  yet,  destroyed  all  the 
seeds  of  that  divine  simplicity,  v/hich,  as  we  have  had 
repeated  occasion  to  observe,  is  always  the  most  pure 
"in  the  infancy  of  religion.  Frederic  of  Devonshire,  ne- 
phew to  Boniface,  the  apostle  of  Germany,  so  renown- 
ed in  the  last  century,  was  appointed  bishop  of  Utrecht; 
and  din^g  with  the  emperor,  Lewis  the  Meek,  was 
exhorted  by  him  to  discharge  his  office  with  faithful- 
ness and  integrity.  The  bishop,  pointing  to  a  fish  on 
the  table,  asked  whether  it  was  proper  to  take  hold  of 
it  by  the  head  or  by  the  tail.  "  By  the  head,  to  be  sure,'-' 
replied  the  emperor.  *'  Then  I  must  begin  my  career 
of  faithfulness,"  answered  Frederic,  "with  your  ma- 
jesty." He  proceeded  to  rebuke  the  emperor  for  an 
incestuous  connexion,  which  he  openly  maintained 
with  Judith  the  empress;  and,  in  the  spii  it  of  John 
the  Baptist,  told  him,  "  that  it  was  not  lawful  for  him 
to  have  her."  Lewis  had  not  expected  this  salute;  and, 
like  Herod,  was  not  disposed  to  give  up  his  Herodias, 
No  sooner  did  the  empress  hear  of  this  rebuke,  than, 
in  the  true  temper  of  an  incensed  adulteress,  she  be- 
gan to  plot  the  destruction  of  Frederic;  and,  by  the 
help  of  assassins,  she  at  length  effected  it.  Frederic 
being  mortally  wounded,  insisted,  however,  that  no 
blood  should  be  shed  on  his  account;  and  died  in  a 
spirit  of  martyrdom  worthy  of  the  relation  of  Boni- 
face. In  him  the  Hollanders  lost  a  faithful  prelate;  but 
his  death  would  preach  a  salutary  doctrine  among  them. 
Frederic  was  murdered  about  the  year  833. f 

Haymo,  a  monk  of  Fulda,  a  scholar  of  Alcuin,J  was 

*  Porphyrogen.  See  Mosheim,  chap.  i.  cent,  uc- 
I  Ing-ulph's  Hist.  See  Collier's  Ecc.  Hi-st.  1  vol 
\.  Dn  Pin,  cent,  ix 


226 

chosen  bishop  of  Halberstadt  in  Saxony,  in  the  year 
841.  He  was  by  descent  an  Englishman,  a  relation  of 
Bedc,  and  took  much  pains  in  preaching  to  the  peo- 
ple. His  writings  are  voluminous,  but  the  matter  of 
them  is  chiefly  extracted  from  the  fathers.  He  assisted 
in  the  condemnation  of  Gotteschalcus  at  Mentz;  nor  is 
it  hard  to  conceive,  that  a  pious  person  might  be  de- 
ceived by  the  elaborate  misrepresentations  of  Raba- 
nus;  though  I  should  think  it  very  improbable,  that 
Haymo  vv^ould  be  at  all  concerned  in  the  barbarities  af- 
terwards exercised  on  the  supposed  heretic  at  Rheims. 
For  Haymo  seems  to  have  thought  and  written  on  the 
doctrines  of  grace,  with  more  unction  and  vigor  than 
most  of  his  contemporaries.  He  composed  comments 
on  many  parts  of  the  holy  scriptures.  A  few  speci- 
mens may  serve  to  show  what  sort  of  doctrine  was 
then  preached  to  the  recent  churches  of  Germany. 

*'  By  ^  the  book  of  life,  we  ought  to  understand  the 
divine  predestination,  as  it  is  written,  the  Lord  know- 
eth  them  that  are  his." 

"  Man  of  himself  departing  from  God,  returns  not 
of  himself  to  God.  God  works  all  in  all;  by  which 
words  human  arrogance  is  removed,  since  without  the 
lioly  Spirit  our  weakness  can  effect  no  real  good, 
whether  great  or  small. "f 

"  We  are  not  onh'^  unable  to  perfect  any  good,  with- 
out divine  grace  and  mercy,  preceding  and  following 
us,  but  not  even  to  think  any.  For  the  grace  of  God 
prevents  us,  that  we  may  be  willing,  and  folloAvs  us, 
that  we  may  be  able.  Every  good  thing  that  we  have, 
the  good  will,  and  the  good  M'ork,  is  not  from  our- 
selves, but  from  God." 

His  views  of  the  distinction  between  the  law  and 
the  gospel,  a  subject  in  his  time  very  little  understood, 
have  a  considerable  degree  of  perspicuity.  "  In  the 
law,  no  room  is  reserved  for  repentance,  but  its  lan- 
guage is,  the  soul  that  sinneth  shall  die.  The  gospel 
saith,  I  will  not  the  death  of  a  sinner.  The  law  is  not 

»  Magd.  cent.  ix.  p.  52.  f  W.  p.  60- 


227 

of  faith.*  It  is  the  province  of  faith,  to  believe  aiid  to 
hope  things  invisible.  The  law  therefore  is  not  fulfilled 
by  faith,  but  by  works.  But  the  gospel  is  fulfilled  by 
faith  rather  than  by  works;  for  faith  alone  saves!"! 
Precious  sentiments!  well  understood  by  serious  and 
humble  spirits,  coming  to  Christ  for  rest,  who  find 
themselves  by  the  law  debarred  of  all  hope  of  salva- 
tion, because  of  their  consciousness  of  intire  depra- 
vity. It  is  not  necessary  to  give  distinct  quotations,  in 
order  to  prove,  that  he  has  the  same  imperfect  and 
inaccurate  views  of  justification,  which  we  have  ob- 
served in  Augustine. 

"  The  faith,  by  which  we  believe  in  God,  is  given 
by  the  Father,  the  Son,  and  the  holy  Spirit :  it  is  not 
in  man  naturally,  it  is  given  by  God;  for,  if  it  were  in 
us,  by  nature,  all  would  l:iave  it.  Faith,  remission  of 
sins,  and  all  the  gifts  of  God,  are  freely  given  to  be- 
lievers.| 

Does  it  not  appear  a  cruel  thing  to  disfigure  such 
lovely  pictures  of  evangelical  truth?  but  historical  ve- 
racity is  a  stubborn  thing.  This  same  Haymo,  who 
knew  so  much  of  Christ,  was  so  infected  with  the 
growth  of  idolatrous  superstition,  that,  in  an  homily 
concerning  virgins,  he  says,  "  it  is  highly  fitting,  that 
we  supplicate  her,"  (he  means  some  virgin,  whose  fes- 
tival he  was  then  celebrating)  "  with  devout  prayers, 
that  she  may  make  us  comfortable  in  this  life  by  her 
merits  and  prayers,  and  in  the  next  acceptable  to 
God."§  How  inconsistent  are  these  sentiments  with 
his  avowed  faith  in  the  Mediator!  But  such  was  the 
torrent  of  the  times!  I  see  Germany,  which  had  been 
happily  tutored  in  the  infant  simplicity  of  christian 
faith,  gradually  perverted  by  the  idolatry,  which  de- 
rived its  strength  from  the  papal  dominion.  Haymo, 
however,  most  probably  did  not  mean  what  he  said, 
in  the  full  import  of  his  own  words;  and  he  seems  to 
have  felt  so  sincerely  the  spirit  of  gospel  truth,  that  I 
am  tempted  to  suppose,  that  his  homilies  were  inter 

*  Galatians,  iii.  12  t  Magd.  64. 

\  Magd.  p.  67.  i  Ma-gd.  \>.  HI. 


228 

polated  by  what  arc  called  pious  frauds,  dian 
which  practice  nothing  was  more  common  in  the  dark 
ages. 

Haymo  continued  bishop  of  Halberstadt  for  twelve 
years,  and  died  in  853.  A  rare  light,  which  shone  in 
the  midst  of  darkness! 

We  have  seen  some  evidences  of  the  power  of 
christian  truth,  in  this  century,  among  the  recent 
churches  cf  Germany  and  Holland.  Let  us  now  look 
to  the  north  of  Europe,  and  see,  by  what  gradations, 
divine  providence  paved  the  way  for  the  propaga- 
tion of  the  gospel  in  the  frozen  regions  of  Scandi- 
navia,* and  on  the  shores  of  the  Baltic,  which  had 
hitherto  been  inveloped  in  the  most  deplorable  dark- 
ness of  paganism. 

Adelard,  cousin  german  to  Charlemagne,  was  a 
bright  luminary  in  the  christian  world  at  the  begin- 
ning of  this  century.  He  had  been  invited  to  the  court 
in  his  youth:  but  fearing  the  infection  of  such  a  mode 
of  life,  he  had  retired;  and,  at  the  age  of  twenty  years, 
became  a  monk  of  Corbie,  in  Picardy,t  and  was  at 
length  chosen  abbot  of  the  monastery.  His  imperial 
relation,  however,  forced  him  again  to  attend  the 
court,  where  he  still  preserved  the  dispositions  of  a 
recluse,  and  took  every  opportunity,  which  business 
allowed,  for  private  prayer  and  meditation.  After  the 
death  of  Charlemagne,  he  was,onunjust  suspicions,  ba- 
nished by  Lewis  the  Meek,  to  a  monastery  on  the  coast 
of  Aquitain,  in  the  isle  of  Here.  After  a  banishment 
of  five  years,  Lewis,  sensible  at  length  of  his  own  in- 
justice, recalled  Adelard,  and  heaped  on  him  the  high- 
est honours.  The  monk  was,  however,  the  same  man 
in  prosperity  and  in  adversity,  and  in  823  obtained 
leave  to  return  to  his  Corbie.  Every  week  he  addres- 
sed each  of  the  monks  in  particular:  he  exhorted  them 
in  pathetic  discourses;  and  laboured  for  the  spiritual 
good  of  the  country  around  his  monastery.  His  liber- 

*  This  term  commonly  includes  the  three  kingdoms  of  Sweden,  Den-' 
mark,  and  Norway, 
t  A.  Butltr,  vol!  p. 


229 

ality  seems  to  liave  bordered  on  excess:  his  humility 
induced  him  to  receive  advice  from  the  meanest  monk: 
when  he  was  desired  to  live  less  austerely,  he  would 
frequently  say,  I  will  take  care  of  your  servant,  that  he 
may  be  enabled  to  attend  on  you  the  longer.  Another 
Adelard,  who  had  governed  the  monastery  during  his 
banishment,  by  the  direction  of  the  first  Adelard  pre- 
pared the  foundation  of  a  distinct  monastery,  called 
New  Corbie,  near  Paderborn,  beside  the  Weser,  as  a 
nursery  for  evangelical  labourers,  who  should  instruct 
the  northern  nations.  The  first  Adelard  completed  the 
scheme:  went  himself  to  New  Corbie  twice;  and  set- 
tled its  discipline.  The  success  of  this  truly  charitable 
project  was  great:  many  learned  and  zealous  mission- 
aries were  furnished  from  the  new  seminar}-;  and  it 
became  a  light  to  the  north  of  Europe.  Adelard  pro- 
moted learnhig  in  his  monasteries:  instructed  the  peo- 
ple both  in  Latin  and  French;  and,  after  his  second 
return  from  Germany  to  Old  Corbie,  he  died  in  827, 
aged  73.  Such  is  the  account  given  us  of  Adelard. 
A  character,  there  is  reason  to  believe,  of  eminent 
piety,  the  fruits  of  whose  faithful  labours  appear  to 
have  been  still  greater  after  his  death  than  during  his 
life.  To  convert  monasteries  into  seminaries  of  pasto- 
ral education,  was  a  thought  far  above  the  taste  of  the 
age  in  which  he  lived;  and  tended  to  emancipate  those 
superstitious  institutions  from  the  unprofitable  and  il- 
liberal bondage,  in  which  they  had  subsisted  for  many 
generations. 

In  *  the  year  814,  Harold,  king  of  Denmark,  being- 
expelled  from  his  dominions,  implored  the  protection 
of  the  emperor  Lewis,  the  son  and  successor  of  Char- 
lemagne. That  prince  persuaded  him  to  receive  chris- 
tian baptism;  and  foreseeing  that  Harold's  reception  of 
Christianity  would  increase  the  difficulty  of  his  resto- 
ration, he  gave  him  a  district  in  Friezeland  for  his, 

*  I  have  extracted  the  subsequent  account  of  Anscarius  from  various 
parts  of  Fleury,  in  his  history  of  the  9th  centur}^;  not  without  an  atten- 
tion also  to  the  history  of  the  same  missionary  in  Alban  Butler,  and  in 
the  Centur.  Magd. 

Vol.  m.  30 


230 

present  maintenance.  Lewis,  dismissing  Haroldto  his 
own  country,  inquired  after  some  pious  person,  who 
might  accompany  him,  and  confirm  both  the  king  and 
his  attendants  in  the  christian  religion.  But  it  was  not 
easy  to  find  a  man  disposed  to  undertake  such  a  jour- 
ney. At  length  Vala,  abbot  of  Old  Corbie,  who  had 
succeeded  his  brother  Adelard,  whose  history  we  have 
just  considered,  said  to  the  emperor,  "  I  have,  in  my 
monastery,  a  monk,  who  earnestly  wishes  to  suffer  for 
the  sake  of  Christ;  a  man  of  understanding  and  integ- 
rity, and  peculiarly  fitted  for  such  a  work.  But  I  can- 
not promise,  that  he  will  undertake  the  journe)^"  The 
emperor  ordered  him  to  send  for  the  man;  Anscarius 
was  his  name.  When  the  nature  of  the  employment 
was  opened  to  the  monk,  he  professed  his  readiness  to 
go.  "I  by  no  means  command  you,  said  Vala,  to  en- 
ter on  so  difficult  and  dangerous  a  service;  I  leave  it 
to  your  option."  Anscarius,  however  persisted  in  his 
resolution.  It  was  matter  of  surprise  to  many,  that 
he  should  choose  to  expose  himself  among  strangers, 
barbarians,  and  pagans:  much  pains  were  taken  by 
many  to  dissuade  him;  but  in  vain:  while  preparations 
were  making  for  his  departure,  he  gave  himself  up  to 
reading  and  prayer.  This  excellent  monk  had  been 
employed,  as  a  teacher,  both  in  Old  and  New  Corbie, 
and  had  distinguished  himself  by  his  talents  and  vir- 
tues.  Aubert,  a  monk  of  noble  birth,  a  great  confident 
of  Vala,  and  steward  of  his  house,  offered  himself  as  a 
companion  to  Anscarius.  Harold,  with  the  two  strangers, 
proceeded  on  his  journey;  but  neither  he  nor  his  at- 
tendants, rude  and  barbarous  in  their  manners,  were 
at  all  solicitous  for  the  accommodation  of  the  mission- 
aries, who  therefore  suffered  much  in  the  beginning  of 
their  journey.  When  the  company  arrived  at  Cologne, 
Hadebald    the   archbishop,    commiserating  the   two 
strangers,  gave  them  a  bark,  in  which   they   might 
convey  their  effects.  Harold,  struck  with  the  conve- 
nience of  the  accommodation,  entered  into  the  vessel 
with  the  missionaries;  and  they  went  down  the  Rhine 
into  the  sea,  and  came  to  the  frontiers  of  Denmark. 


231 

But  Harold  finding  access  to  his  dominions  impossible, 
because  of  the  power  of  those,  who  had  usurped  the 
sovereignty,  remained  in  Friezeland,  in  the  district 
assigned  to  him  by  the  emperor. 

This  king  of  Denmark  seems  to  have  been  appointed 
by  divine  providence,  only  as  an  instrument  to  intro- 
duce Anscarius  into  the  mission.  For  we  hear  little 
more  of  him  afterwards.  The  two  French  monks  la- 
boured with  zeal  and  success  in  Friezeland,  both 
among  christians  and  pagans.  Harold  sent  some  of  his 
own  slaves  to  be  taught  by  them;  and,  in  a  little  time, 
they  had  above  twelve  children  in  their  school.  Above 
two  years  they  laboured,  and  were  made  instruments 
of  good  to  souls:  after  this  Aubert  ended  his  days  by  a 
disease. 

About  the  year  829,  many  Swedes  having  expres- 
sed a  desire  to  be  instructed  in  Christianity,  Anscarius 
received  a  commission  from  the  emperor  Lewis  to 
visit  Sweden.  Another  monk  of  Old  Corbie,  Vitmar  by 
name,  was  assigned  as  his  companion;  and  a  pastor  was 
left  to  attend  on  king  Harold,  in  the  room  of  Anscarius. 
In  the  passage,  the  two  missionaries  were  met  by  pi- 
rates, who  took  the  ship  and  all  its  effects.  On  this  oc- 
casion, Anscarius  lost  the  emperor's  presents,  and  for- 
ty volumes,  which  he  had  collected  for  the  use  of  the 
ministry.  Buthis  mind  was  still  determined:  and  he  and 
his  partner  having  with  difficulty  got  to  land,  they  gave 
themselves  up  to  the  direction  of  providence,  and 
walked  on  foot  a  long  way,  now  and  then  crossing  some 
arms  of  the  sea  in  boats.  Such  are  the  triumphs  of 
christian  faith  and  love.  They  arrived  at  Birca,  from 
the  ruins  of  which,  Stockholm  took  its  rise,  though 
built  at  some  distance  from  it.  *  The  king  of  Sweden 
received  them  favourably;  and  his  counsel  unanimously 
agreed  to  permit  them  to  remain  in  the  country,  and  to 
preach  the  gospel.  Success  attended  their  pious  ef- 
forts. Many  christian  captives  in  Sweden  rejoiced  at 
the  opportunity  of  the  communion  of  saints  which 

»  *  PuflTendoi'f 's  Hist,  of  Sweden. 


2-Z-2 

was  now  restored  to  them;  and  among  others,  Heriga- 
rius,  governor  of  the  city,  was  baptized.  This  man 
erected  a  church  on  his  own  estate,  and  persevered  in 
the  profession  and  support  of  the  gospel. 

After  six  months,  the  two  missionaries  returned 
with  letters  written  by  the  king's  own  hand,  into 
France,  and  informed  Lewis  of  their  success.  The 
consequence  was,  that  Anscarius  was  appointed  arch- 
bishop of  Hamburg.  This  great  city,  being  in  the 
neighbourhood  of  Denmark,  was  henceforth  looked  on 
as  the  metropolis  of  all  the  countries  north  of  the  Elb, 
which  should  embrace  Christianity.  The  mission  into 
Denmark,  was  at  the  same  time  attended  to;  and 
Gausbert,  a  relation  of  Ebbo,  archbishop  of  Rheims, 
who,  as  well  as  Anscarius,  was  concerned  in  these 
missions,  was  sent  to  reside  as  a  bishop  in  Sweden: 
there  the  number  of  christians  increased.  But  perhaps 
the  reader  has  anticipated  the  observation;  namely, 
that  it  was  the  genius  of  these  dark  ages,  to  provide 
for  the  hierarchy  prematurely;  and  to  constitute  bi- 
shops and  dioceses  over  large  districts,  in  which  scarce 
any  christians  were  to  be  found. 

Anscarius,  (such  was  the  ecclesiastical  discipline 
of  the  times,)  by  the  order  of  the  emperor  Lewis, 
went  to  Rome,  that  he  might  receive  the  confirmation 
of  the  new  archbishopric  of  Hamburg.  Returning  to  his 
diocese,  he  gained  over  many  pagans,  brought  up 
children  in  the  christian  faith,  and  redeemed  captives, 
whom  he  instructed  and  employed  in  the  ministry.  In 
the  year  845,  his  faith  was  tried  by  a  severe  affliction. 
Hamburg  was  besieged, taken,  and  pillaged  bytheNor- 
mans,  and  he  himself  escaped  with  difficulty.  On  this 
occasion,  he  lost  all  his  effects:  but  his  mind  was  so  se- 
rene, that  he  was  not  heard  to  complain:  "  The  Lord 
gave,"  said  he,  "and  the  Lord  hath  taken  away."  It  was 
no  inconsiderable  addition  to  his  sufferings,  to  hear,  that 
Gausbert,  whom  he  had  sent  into  Sweden,  was  banish- 
ed through  a  popular  insurrection;  in  consequence  of 
which,  the  work  of  the  ministry  was  for  some  years  at 
a  stand  in  that  country.  Anscarius,  reduced  to  great 


233 

poverty,  and  deserted  by  many  of  his  followers,  per- 
sisted still  with  unwearied  patience  in  the  exercise  of 
his  mission  in  the  north  of  Europe,  till  the  bishopric 
of  Bremen  was  conferred  upon  him.  Hamburg  and 
Bremen  were  from  that  time  considered  as  united  in 
one  diocese.  It  was  not  till  some  pains  were  taken  to 
overcome  his  scruples  that  he  could  be  prevailed  on 
to  accept  of  this  provision  for  his  wants.  About  the 
year  852,  Anscarius  sent  a  priest,  called  Ardgarius, 
into  Sweden,  to  strengthen  the  faith  of  the  few  chris- 
tians, who  remained  there.  Among  these  was  Heriga- 
rius,  who  had  supported  the  cause  of  Christ,  while  it 
was  in  the  most  feeble  and  afflicted  state. 

Though  Anscarius  had  made  no  great  impression 
on  Sweden,  he  was  not  discouraged  in  his  views  of 
propagating  the  faith  in  the  north.  He  still  had  his  eye 
on  Denmark,  which  had  been  his  first  object:  and 
having  gained  the  friendship  of  Eric,  who  reigned 
there,  he  was  enabled  to  gain  a  footing  in  that  coun- 
try; and  to  plant  the  gospel  with  some  success  at 
Sleswick,  a  port  then  much  frequented  by  merchants. 
Many  persons,  who  had  been  baptized  at  Hamburg, 
resided  there;  and  a  number  of  pagans  were  induced 
to  countenance  Christianity  in  some  degree.  Ansca- 
rius, through  the  friendship  of  Eric,  found  means  also 
to  visit  Sweden  once  more.  A  recommendatory  letter 
from  that  prince  to  Olaus,  king  of  Sweden,  insured 
him  a  favourable  reception  in  the  last  mentioned  coun- 
try. The  zealous  bishop  arrived  at  Birca,  where  a 
pagan,  who  pretended  to  intimacy  with  the  gods,  op- 
posed  his  designs  with  arguments  adapted  to  the 
superstitious  notions  of  the  people.  Olaus  himself  in- 
formed Anscarius,  that  it  must  be  decided  by  lot, 
whether  he  should  be  permitted  to  preach  Christianity 
in  Sweden.  The  missionary  prayed,  and  the  lot  deci- 
ded in  favour  of  his  designs.  The  profession  of  the 
gospel  was  established  at  Birca,  and  Christianity  made 
a  great  progress  in  Sweden.  Anscarius  returned  into 
Denmark,  and  laboured  there  with  success.  The  mis- 
sionaries, whoni  he  employed,  were  directed  by  him 


234 

to  follow  the  example  of  St.  Paul,  by  labouring  with 
their  own  hands  for  bread;  a  very  necessary  practice 
in  those  poor  countries. 

In  the  year  865,  this  apostle  of  the  north  was  called 
to  his  rest.  He  had  lived  six  years  after  the  union  of 
the  dioceses  of  Hamburg  and  Bremen,  and  had  appli- 
ed himself  to  the  duties  of  his  office,  both  as  a  go- 
vernor and  a  preacher  of  the  church,  with  indefatiga- 
ble assiduity.  A  terror  to  the  proud,  and  a  comfort  to 
the  humble,  he  knew  how  to  divide  the  word  of  truth, 
and  to  give  to  each  of  the  flock  his  portion  in  due 
season.  In  all  good  works,  and  particularly  in  his  care 
of  redeeming  captives,  he  was  eminently  distinguish- 
ed. He  erected  an  hospital  at  Bremen,  in  which  pas- 
sengers were  relieved,  and  the  sick  were  taken  care 
of,  which,  in  that  rude  age,  was  an  uncommon  instance 
of  liberality  and  compassion.  His  example  and  au- 
thority had  great  influence  even  among  those,  who  sold 
captives  to  pagans,  or  kept  them  in  slavery.  They 
were  induced  by  his  exhortations  to  set  the  prisoners 
at  liberty.  He  is  said  to  have  had  the  gift  of  miracles; 
and,  though  I  cannot  give  full  credit  to  the  most  plau- 
sible stories  of  this  nature,  which  are  related  of  him, 
because  of  the  superstitious  credulity  and  fraudulent 
inventions  of  the  times,  I  must  confess  with  Fleury, 
that  if  ever  the  gift  of  miracles  may  be  supposed  to 
have  existed  after  the  first  ages  of  Christianity,  it  may 
be  believed,  most  probably,  to  have  been  vouchsafed 
to  those,  who  were  concerned  in  the  fiist  plantation 
of  churches.*  And  it  should  be  remembered,  that 
Sweden  and  Denmark,  were,  under  God,  indebted  to 
Anscarius,  for  the  first  light  of  the  gospel.  This  ex- 
traordinary person,  however,  was  by  no  means  dispo- 
sed to  value  himself  on  miraculous  powers;  as  he 

*  Nelson  is  of  the  same  opinion.  "  Q;  Does  it  seem  probable,  tbat  if  the 
conversion  of  infidels  were  attempted  by  men  of  honest  and  sincere  minds, 
God  would  extraordinarily  countenance  such  a  design?  A.  'Tis  ag-reeable 
to  reason  to  think  he  would,  and  in  no  way  contrary  to  scripture.  For,  as 
the  wisdom  of  God,  is  never  found  to  be  prodigal  in  multiplying  the  effects 
of  his  almight)'  power,  so  it  is  never  wanting  to  afford  all  necessary  evi- 
dences and  motives  of  conversion."  Nelson's  Festivals,  p.  259. 


235 

appears  to  have  been  acquainted  with  an  holy  influence 
of  a  more  excellent  nature,   1  Cor.  chapter  xii.  last 
verse.  "  If  I  had  found  favour  with  God,"  said  he, 
one  day,  when  he  heard  his  miracles  extolled,  "  I 
should  beseech  him  to  grant  me  one  single  miracle, 
even  his  grace  to  sanctify  my  nature."  It  is  remarked 
of  him,  that  he  never  did  any  thing  without  recom- 
mending himself  first  to  God  by  prayer.    A  short 
fragment  of  an  epistle  to  the  bishops,  is  the  wl)ole  of 
his  writings,  which  I  can  find  to  be  extant.*  "  I  beg 
your  earnest  prayers  to  God  for  the  growth  and  fruit- 
fulness  of  this  mission  among  the  pagans.  For,  by  the 
grace  of  God,  the  church  of  Christ  is  now  founded 
both  in  Denmark  and  Sweden;  and  the  pastors  dis- 
charge their  office   without  molestation.    May   God 
Almighty  make  you  all  partakers  of  this  work  in  godly 
charity,  and  joint  heirs  with  Christ  in  heavenly  glo- 
ry!" The  centuriators  have  charged  him  with  idola- 
tr}^;  but  the  only  proof,  which  they  give,  is  his  super- 
stitious attachment  to  relics:  an  evil  so  general,  I  had 
almost  said  universal,  at  that  time,  that  it  cannot 
fix  any  particular  blot  on  the  character  of  Anscarius. 
I  see  no  proof  of  his  having  practised  or  encouraged 
image  worship.  It  is  true,  that  he  was  devoted  to  the 
see  of  Rome.  And,  in  those  days,  how  few  were  not 
so!  The  centuriators  in  their  own  attachment  to  the 
prejudicesof  the  age,  in  which  they  lived,  might  have 
found  a  charitable  apology  for  those  of  the  northern 
apostle.  If  candor  be  not  exercised  in  such  circum- 
stances, we  shall  scarce  be  able  to  see,  for  many  ages, 
even  the  existence  of  a  church  of  Christ.  A  Luther, 
firmly  and  decidedly  resisting,  and  even  despising  the 
current  maxims  of  his  own  age,  is  a  rare  phenomenon. 
I  have  the  satisfaction  to  observe,  that  Mosheim  is, 
in  the  case  of  Anscarius,  more  candid  than  the  centuri- 
ators. He  allows  that  the  labours  of  that  missionary, 
and  in  general  of  the  other  missionaries  in  this  century, 
deserve  the  highest  commendations.   If  it  were  possi- 

*  Crantzius.  See.  Cen,  Magd.  Cent.  Ix.  p.  324. 


236 

ble  to  exhibit  a  circumstantial  account  of  Anscarius, 
most  probably  the  justice  of  Mosheim's  encomium  on 
his  character,  would  be  ascertained  beyond  the  reach 
of  contradiction.  What  else  but  the  genuine  love  of 
God  in  Christ,  could  have  furnished  the  mind  with 
such  faith  in  providence,  perseverance  in  hardships, 
and  active  charity  for  souls? 

Rembert,  his  confidant,  was  appointed  bishop  of 
Bremen,  by  the  dying  words  of  the  apostle.  He  wrote 
the  life  of  his  predecessor,  a  treatise  which  seems  to 
have  furnished  historians  with  the  greatest  part  of  their 
materials  concerning  Anscarius.  Rembert  himself  pre- 
sided over  the  churches  of  the  north,  for  twenty-three 
years,  and  established  their  discipline  and  ecclesiastical 
consistence.  He  was  not  unworthy  of  the  confidence  of 
his  predecessor,  and  lived  and  died  an  example  of 
piety.  He  began  to  preach  among  the  people  of  Bran- 
denburg, which  -hitherto  had  been  altogether  pagan, 
and  made  some  progress  towards  their  conversion. 
He  died  in  888. 

Jeron,  an  English  presbyter,  went  over  to  Holland, 
in  this  century,  and  preached  the  gospel  there:  and,  so 
far  as  appears,  with  faithfulness.  He  was  crowned  with 
martyrdom  about  the  year  849.* 

Patto,  a  Scotch  abbot,  was  appointed  bishop  of 
Verden,  by  Charlemagne.  Ifhe  centuriators  only  tell 
us,  that  he  strenuously  supported  popish  corruptions 
and  human  traditions.  But  Crantzius  from  whom  they 
collected  this  account,  would  have  informed  them  also 
of  better  things. f  Patto,  it  appears,  had  great  success 
among  the  infidels,  but  was  grieved  to  see  christian 
professors  disgracing  the  faith  by  their  vices.  He 
faithfully  rebuked  them;  and  for  his  honest  zeal  in 
preaching  against  the  sins  of  nominal  christians,  was 
murdered  about  the  year  815. 

Tanes,  who  had  succeeded  Patto  in  the  Scotch 
abbey,  after  a  time  left  his  situation,  and  followed  his 
countryman  into  Germany,  not  so  much  with  a  desire 

*  Cent.  Magd.  f  See  A.  Butler,  vol.  ii. 


237 

of  martyrdom,  say  the  centuriators,,  as  of  obtaining  a 
richer  benefice.  Uncharitable  surmise!  There  is  too 
much  of  this  leaven  to  be  found  in  a  work,  which,  in 
other  respects,  abounds  in  piety  and  industry.  The 
same  Crantzius  informs  us,  that  Tanes,  in  fact, 
laboured  in  conjunction  with  Patto,  and,  after  awhile, 
was  appointed  his  successor  to  the  see  of  Verden. 
Were  the  sufferings  and  hardships,  which  Patto  and 
himself  had  sustained  among  barbarians,  likely  to  ren- 
der the  bishopric  of  Verden  an  enviable  object  of  am- 
bition? 

I  know  no  other  ground  on  which  the  propagation 
of  the  gospel  may  be  discovered  in  this  century.  The 
accounts  of  the  labours  of  Spanish  pastors  among  the 
mahometans,  or  of  the  sufferings  of  the  christians  un- 
der the  persecutions  of  the  Moors,  are  not  sufficiently 
authenticated. 

The  reader,  I  hope  has  seen,  in  this  dark  century, 
a  clear  demonstration,  that  the  church  of  Christ  still 
existed.  He  may  now,  if  he  please,  descend  with  me, 
to  the  ultimate  point  of  christian  depression. 


Vol.  Ill  3] 


CENTURY  X. 

CHAP  I. 

A  General  View  of  the  Church  in  this  Century. 

1  HE  famous  annalist  of  the  Roman  church,  whose 
partiality  to  the  see  of  Rome  is  notorious,  has,  how- 
ever, the  candor  to  own,  that  this  was  an  iron  age, 
barren  of  all  goodness;  a  leaden  age,  abounding  in  all 
wickedness;  and  a  dark  age,  remarkable  above  all 
others  for  the  scarcity  of  writers,  and  men  of  learn- 
ing.* "  Christ  was  then,  as  it  appears,  in  a  very  deep 
sleep,  when  the  ship  was  covered  with  waves;  and 
what  seemed  worse,  when  the  Lord  was  thus  asleep, 
there  were  no  disciples,  who,  by  their  cries,  might 
awaken  him,  being  themselves  all  fast  asleep."  Under 
an  allusion  by  no  means  incongruous  with  the  orien- 
tal and  scriptural  taste,  this  writer  represents  the  di- 
vine Head  of  the  church  as  having  given  up  the  church, 
for  its  wickedness,  to  a  judicial  impenitency,  which 
continued  the  longer,  because  there  were  scarce  any 
zealous  spirits,  who  had  the  charity  to  pray  for  the 
cause  of  God  upon  earth.  I  give  this  serious  and  de- 
votional sense  to  Baronius,  because  the  words  will 
bear  it,  without  the  least  violence,  and  the  phraseo- 
logy is  perfectly  scriptural. f 

Infidel  malice  has  with  pleasure  recorded  the  vices 
and  the  crimes  of  the  popes  of  this  century.  Nor  is  it 
my  intention  to  attempt  to  palliate  the  account  of  their 
wickedness.  It  was  as  deep  and  as  atrocious  as  lan- 
guage can  paint;  nor  can  a  reasonable  man  desire  more 

*  Baron.  Annal. 

t  As  for  instance,  awake,  why  sleepest  thou,  O  Lord?  Ps.  xliv. 


239 

authentic  evidence  of  history,  than  that,  which  the 
records  both  of  civil  and  ecclesiastical  history  afford, 
concerning  the  corruption  of  the  whole  church.  One 
pleasing  circumstance,  however  occurs  to  the  mind 
of  a  genuine  christian;  which  is,  that  all  this  was  pre- 
dicted. The  book  of  the  Revelation  may  justly  be 
called  a  prophetic  history  of  these  transactions;  and 
the  truth  of  scripture  is  vindicated  by  events  of  all 
others  the  most  disagreeable  to  a  pious  mind. 

What  materials  then  appear  for  the  history  of  the 
real  church?  The  propagation  of  the  gospel  among 
the  pagan  nations,  and  the  review  of  some  writers  of 
this  century,  form  the  principal  materials,  and  shall 
be  the  subjects  of  two  distinct  chapters.  But  the  gene- 
ral description  of  the  situation  of  the  church,  can  be 
little  else  than  a  very  succinct  enumeration  of  the 
means  made  use  of  to  oppose  the  progress  of  popery. 

The  decrees  of  the  council  of  Frankfort  against 
image  worship,  had  still  some  influence  in  Germany, 
France,  and  England.  In  the  year  909,  a  council  was 
held  at  Trosle,  a  village  near  Soissons  in  France,  in 
which  they  expressed  their  sentiments  of  christian 
faith  and  practice,  without  any  mixture  of  doctrine 
that  was  peculiarly  popish.  Many  churches  still  had 
the  scriptures  in  the  vulgar  tongue.  The  monks  took 
much  pains  in  our  island,  to  erect  an  independent  do- 
minion on  the  ruin  of  the  secular  clergy.  This  scheme, 
equally  destructive  of  civil  and  clerical  authority,  met, 
however,  with  a  vigorous,  and,  in  a  great  measure,  a 
successful  resistance;  and  the  celibacy  of  the  clergy 
was  strongly  opposed.  The  doctrine  of  transubstan- 
tiation  itself,  the  favourite  child  of  Pascasius  Radbert, 
was  still  denied  by  many,  and  could  not  as  yet  gain  a 
firm  and  legal  establishment  in  Europe.  Alfric,  in 
England,  whose  homily  for  Easter  used  to  be  read  in 
the  churches,  undertook  to  prove,  that  the  elements 
were  the  body  and  blood  of  Christ,  not  corporeally, 
but  spiritually.  In  an  epistle,  he  asserts  that  this 
sacrifice  is  not  made  his  body,  in  which  he  suffered 
for  usj  nor  his  blood,  which  he  shed  for  us,  but  is 


240 

spiritually  made  his  body  and  blood,  as  was  the 
case  with  the  manna  which  rained  from  heaven,  and 
with  the  water  which  flowed  from  the  rock.  Op- 
position was  also  made  by  kings  and  councils  to  the 
authority  of  the  pope.  One  of  the  most  remarkable 
instances  of  this  kind  took  place  in  the  council  of 
Rheims,  which  deposed  a  bishop  without  the  consent 
of  the  pope.  The  story  is  tedious  and  uninteresting. 
I  have  looked  over  the  acts  of  the  synod,  which  are 
circumstantially  detailed  by  the  centuriators  in  their 
history  of  this  century;  and  a  few  words  of  the  dis- 
courses of  Arnulph,  bishop  of  Orleans,  the  president, 
may  deserve  to  be  distinctly  quoted.*  "  O  deplorable 
Rome,  who  in  the  days  of  our  forefathers  producedst 
so  many  burning  and  shining  lights,  thou  hast  brought 
forth,  in  our  times,  only  dismal  darkness,  worthy  of 
the  detestation  of  posterity:  What  shall  we  do,  or  what 
counsel  shall  we  take?  The  gospel  tells  us  of  a  barren 
figtree,  and  of  the  divine  patience  exercised  toward 
it.  Let  us  bear  with  our  primates  as  long  as  we  can; 
and,  in  the  mean  time,  seek  for  spiritual  food,  where 
it  is  to  be  found.  Certainly  there  are  some  in  this  holy 
assembly,  who  can  testify,  that,  in  Belgium  and  Ger- 
many, both  which  are  near  us,  there  may  be  found 
real  pastors  and  eminent  men  in  religion.  Far  better 
would  it  be,  if  the  animosities  of  kings  did  not  pre- 
vent, that  we  should  seek,  in  those  parts,  for  the 
judgment  of  bishops,  than  in  that  venal  city,  which 
weighs  all  decrees  by  the  quantity  of  money.  What 
think  you,  reverend  fathers,  of  this  man,  the  pope, 
placed  on  a  lofty  throne,  shining  in  purple  and  gold? 
whom  do  you  account  him?  If  destitute  of  love,  and 
puffed  up  with  the  pride  of  knowledge  onl}^,  he  is 
antichrist,  sitting  in  the  temple  of  God."t 

It  is  always  a  pleasing  speculation  to  a  thinking 

•  Bishop  Newton,  in  his  3d  vol.  p.  161.  on  the  prophecies,  of  whom  I 
have  made  some  use  in  a  few  foregoing  sentences,  assigns  the  words  to 
Gerbert,  of  Rheims.  The  acts  of  the  synod,  which  I  have  mentioned,  show 
his  mistake:  they  expressly  ascribe  them  to  Arnulphus. 

t  2  Thess.  ii.  ' 


241 

mind,  to  observe  the  ebullitions  of  good  sense  and  a 
vigorous  understanding,  exerted  even  in  disadvanta- 
geous circumstances.  It  should  be  still  more  pleasing 
to  observe  them,  when  they  are  under  the  conduct  of 
humble  piety,  as  it  may  he  presumed  was  the  case  in 
this  instance  of  Arnulphus.  We  see  here  even  Luther 
and  Cranmer  in  embryo.  The  zealous  and  intelligent 
Frenchman  laments,  that  the  kings  of  the  earth  were 
committing  fornication  with  the  Roman  harlot,  and 
giving  their  power  to  support  her  grandeur.  He  casts 
his  eyes  toward  the  Netherlands  and  Germany,  which 
appear  to  have  had,  at  that  time,  a  degree  of  light  and 
purity  unknown  at  Rome :  he  eagerly  wishes  to  oppose 
this  light  and  purity  to  the  darkness  and  the  profligacy  of 
Rome.  Like  Luther,  he  is  fearful  of  throwing  all  things 
into  confusion  by  hasty  and  precipitate  methods:  and, 
like  Cranmer,  in  the  case  of  Henry  the  eighth's  divorce, 
he  wishes  to  appeal  to  the  unprej  udiced  j  udgment  of  men 
more  learned,  and  more  virtuous,  than  any  to  be  found 
at  Rome,  against  the  scandalous  oppressions  of  that 
venal  city.  That  which  Arnulphus  conceived  so  judi- 
ciously, in  an  age  the  most  unfavourable  to  reforma- 
tion, Luther  in  Germany,  and  Cranmer  in  England, 
afterwards  effected.  It  is  not,  however,  to  be  supposed, 
that  even  those  magnanimous  struggles  for  christian 
light  and  liberty  were  in  vain.  The  Spirit  of  God  was 
evidently  still  with  the  recent  churches  of  Germany 
and  the  north;  and  France  itself  was  by  no  means  des- 
titute of  men,  who  feared  God,  and  served  him  in  the 
gospel  of  his  Son. 

There  is  an  ultimate  point  of  depression  in  morals, 
below  which  the  common  sense  of  mankind  and  the 
interests  of  society  will  not  permit  the  scandalous  pro- 
fligacy of  governors,  whether  secular  or  ecclesiastic, 
to  descend.  The  church  of  Rome  had  sunk  to  this 
point  in  the  present  century.  Not  only  moral  virtue 
itself,  but  even  the  appearance  of  it,  was  lost  in  the 
metropolis:  and  the  church,  now  trampled  on  by  the 
most  worthless  prelates,  and  immersed  in  profaneness, 
sensuality,  and  lewdness,  called  for  the  healing  aid  of 


242 

the  civil  magistrate.  Otho  I,  emperor  of  Germany, 
came  to  Rome:  and,  by  the  united  powers  of  the  civil 
and  the  military  sword,  reduced  that  capital  into  some 
degree  of  order  and  decorum.  He  put  an  end  to  the 
irregular  and  infamous  customs  of  intruding  into  the 
popedom,  and  confirmed  to  himself  and  his  succes- 
sors the  right  of  choosing  the  supreme  pontiff  in  future. 
The  consequence  was,  that  a  greater  degree  of  moral  de- 
corum began  to  prevail  in  the  papacy,  though  matter  of 
fact  evinces  but  too  plainly,  that  religious  principle  was 
still  as  much  wanting  as  ever.  The  effect  of  Otho's 
regulations  was,  that  the  popes  exchanged  the  vices 
of  the  rake  and  the  debauchee,  for  those  of  the  ambi- 
tious politician  and  the  hypocrite ;  and  gradually  re- 
covered, by  a  prudent  conduct,  the  domineering  as- 
cendancy, which  had  been  lost  by  vicious  excesses. 
But  this  did  not  begin  to  take  place  till  the  latter  end  of 
the  eleventh  century.  If  a  very  moderate  degree  of 
christian  knowledge  had  obtained,  during  Otho's  time, 
in  the  christian  world,  the  farce  of  St.  Peter's  domi- 
nion at  Rome  by  his  successors,  would  have  been  at 
an  end.  But  there  arose  no  Claudius  of  Turin  in  this 
century.  The  little  specimen  of  the  eloquence  of  Ar- 
nulphus,  which  has  been  mentioned,  was  the  only 
effort  I  can  find,  which  was  made  to  stem  the  torrent 
of  Roman  tyranny.  The  whole  western  world,  with 
O'lho  at  its  head,  an  emperor  of  upright  intentions,  and 
of  shining  endowments,  agreed  to  reverence  that  see 
as  supreme,  which  had  laboured,  as  it  were,  by  the 
most  infamous  practices,  to  degrade  itself,  and  to  con- 
vince mankind,  that  it  could  not  possibly  be  of  divine 
appointment.  The  popes  were  rebuked,  condemned, 
and  punished;  but  the  popedom  was  reverenced  as 
much  as  ever.  God  had  put  into  the  hearts  of  princes 
to  fulfil  his  will;  and  to  agree,  and  give  their  kingdom 
unto  the  beast,  until  the  words  of  God  should  be  ful- 
filled.* The  Roman  prelates,  convinced  of  the  neces- 
sity of  more  caution  and  decorum  in  the  use  of  their 

*  Rev.  xvii.  17- 


243 

power,  recovered  by  political  artifice  what  they  had 
lost,  and  became,  in  the  issue,  more  terrible  and  more 
pernicious  in  the  exercise  of  their  power  than  ever. 
The  liksglect  of  so  favourable  an  opportunity  for  eman- 
cipating the  church  from  religious  slavery,  is  the  high- 
est proof  of  the  extreme  ignorance  of  these  times,  and 
deserved  to  be  noticed. 

This  was  an  age  of  great  political  regulations.  The 
choice  of  the  German  emperor  was  restricted  to  cer- 
tain electors,  with  whom  it  continues  to  the  present 
time.  The  empire  had,  indeed,  been  intirely  separa- 
ted from  the  French  monarchy,  in  the  latter  end  of 
the  foregoing  century.  But,  in  this,  the  great  Otho 
more  firmly  fixed  the  imperial  crown,  in  the  name 
and  nation  of  Germany.  He  himself  was  sprung  from 
the  dukes  of  Saxony ;  and  deserved  much  of  all  Eu- 
rope for  his  memorable  victory  over  the  Turks,  by 
which  the  same  restraint  was  laid  on  their  inroads 
into  Germany,  as  had  been  laid  in  France  on  the  in- 
roads of  the  Saracens  into  that  kingdom,  by  the  victo- 
rious arms  of  Charles  Martel,  the  grandfather  of 
Charlemagne.  The  Turks  were  a  fierce  and  valiant 
nation,  who  inhabited  the  coast  of  the  Caspian  sea, 
and  who  were  let  loose  on  mankind  as  a  just  provi- 
dential scourge,  on  account  of  the  contempt  of  divine 
truth,  and  the  overflowing  torrent  of  iniquity,  which 
had  pervaded  Christendom.  They  gnidually  superse- 
ded the  Saracens,  and  seized  their  power  and  empire; 
but  no  great  alteration  took  place  in  the  civil  situation 
of  the  east  or  the  west  on  that  account.  For  the  Turks 
universally  embraced  mahometanism,  the  religion  of 
the  vanquished ;  and  with  that  the  hatred  of  the  Sara- 
cens to  the  christian  name ;  nor  have  they  to  this  day 
acquired  either  politeness  or  science  to  such  a  degree, 
as  might  mitigate  their  ferocity. 

In  all  this  disastrous  period,  I  find  scarce  any  prince, 
except  Otho,  actuated  with  a  spirit  of  religious  zeal: 
indeed,  his  two  successors  of  the  same  name,  inherited 
some  portion  of  his  talents  and  virtues.  The  efforts  of 
Otho,  to  purify  the  church,  to  promote  learning,  to 


244 

erect  bishoprics,  to  endow  churches,  and  to  propagate 
the  gospel  among  the  barbarous  nations,  were  highly- 
laudable.  And  so  steady  and  sincere  were  his  exer- 
tions of  this  nature,  and  so  amiable  was  his  private 
life,  that  I  cannot  but  hope  that  he  was  himself  a' real 
christian.  His  empress,  Adelaide,  was  no  less  remark- 
able for  her  zeal  and  liberality.  But  I  scarce  need  to 
say,  that  the  reigning  ignorance,  superstition,  and 
wickedness  defeated,  or  abused  their  wellmeant  de- 
signs; those  alone  excepted,  which  regarded  the  pro- 
pagation of  the  gospel  among  the  pagans. 

In  the  west  the  Normans,  in  the  east  the  Turks, 
committed  the  most  dreadful  outrages  on  the  church. 
In  our  own  island  I  find  nothing,  in  all  this  period, 
but  ignorance,  superstition,  and  the  ravages  of  nor- 
thern barbarians.  The  state  of  France  was  not  much 
different:  the  latter  kings  of  the  house  of  Charlemagne 
were  dwindled  into  ciphers;  and,  towards  the  close 
of  the  century,  the  third  race  of  French  kings  began 
in  the  person  of  Hugh  Capet.  This  prince  was  him- 
self by  no  means  so  renowned  as  Clovis  and  Charle- 
magne, the  heads  of  the  first  and  second  race;  but  his 
posterity  remained  on  the  throne  for  a  much  longer 
series  of  years  than  that  of  the  two  former,  though  the 
name  of  Capet  was  almost  forgotten  in  the  world.  It 
has,  however,  been  rendered  familiar  to  our  ears  of 
late,  by  a  series  of  transactions,  which  have  issued  in 
the  ruin  of  that  house,  and  in  the  exhibition  of  scenes, 
which  have  equally  outraged  every  principle  of  reli- 
gion, honour,  and  humanity. 


245 

CHAP.  II. 

The  Propagation  oftke  Gospel  in  this  Century. 

1  HE  Hungarians  had  received  some  ideas  of  Chris- 
tianity in  the  time  of  Charlemagne.  But,  on  his  de- 
cease, they  relapsed  into  the  idolatries  of  their  ftithers, 
and  the  christian  name  was  almost  extinguished  among 
them.  Nor  is  it  probable,  that  they  had  ever  been  much 
instructed  in  the  real  gospel  of  Christ.  But  toward  the 
middle  of  this  century,  two  Hungarian  chiefs,  whose 
governments  lay  on  the  ba«ks  of  the  Danube,  made 
profession  of  Christianity,  and  were  baptized  atConstan- 
tinople.  These  two  leaders  were  called  Bologudes  and 
Gylas.  The  former  soon  apostatized:  the  latter  perse- 
vered; received  instruction  from  Hierotheus,  a  bishop, 
who  had  accompanied  him  from  Constantinople;  and 
encouraged  the  labours  of  the  same  bishop  among  his 
subjects.  The  effects  proved  salutary  to  the  Hunga- 
rian nation:  Sarolta,  the  daughter  of  Gylas,  was  given 
in  marriage  to  Geysa,  the  chief  prince  of  Hungary. 
She  prevailed  on  her  husband  to  receive  Christianity, 
and  the  gospel  was  once  more  introduced  into  a  coun- 
try through  the  zealous  piety  of  a  woman.  Geysa, 
however,  still  retained  much  inclination  to  the  idolatry 
of  his  fathers,  though  his  conversations  with  christian 
captives  and  missionaries  made  a  strong  impression 
on  his  mind:  but  he  wac  prevented  from  apostatizing, 
by  the  zeal  and  authority  of  Adalbert,  archbishop  of 
Prague,  who  visited  Hungary  toward  the  conclusion 
of  this  century.  Whether  the  king's  conversion  was 
real  or  nominal,  the  most  salutary  consequences  at- 
tended the  reception  of  the  gospel  by  his  subjects. 
Humanity,  peace,  and  civilization  began  to  flourish 
among  a  people  hitherto  fierce  and  barbarous  in  the 
extreme.  Stephen,  the  son  of  Geysa,  was  baptized  by 
Adalbert;  and  became  a  more  decisive  defender  of  the 
faith  than  his  father  had  been.  Under  Stephen,  Hun- 
Vol.  hi.  32 


246 

gary  was  almost  wholly  evangelized;  and  nothing  was 
omitted  by  this  zealous  prince  to  establish  Christianity 
throughout  his  dominions.  There  is  every  reason  to 
believe  that  many  real  conversions  took  place,  though 
I  can  give  no  particular  account  of  them. 

But  Adalbert  has  been  mentioned;  and  it  will  be' 
proper  to  give  the  reader  a  short  sketch  of  the  life  of 
thai  extraordinary  personage.*  He  was  born  in  936,  and 
ordained  by  Diethmar,  archbishop  of  Prague.  He  be- 
held this  same  archbishop  dying  in  terrible  agonies  of 
conscience,  on  account  of  his  neglect  of  pastoral  duty, 
and  secular  avarice.  Adalbert  was  appointed  his  suc- 
cessor; but  with  so  little  satisfaction  to  himself,  that 
he  was  never  seen  to  smile  afterwards.  Being  asked 
the  reason,  he  said,  "  it  is  an  easy  thing  to  wear  a 
mitre  and  a  cross,  but  an  awful  thing  to  give  an  account 
of  a  bishopric,  before  the  Judge  of  quick  and  dead." 
Bohemia,  the  scene  of  his  diocese,  was  covered  with 
idolatry:  there  were  christians,  indeed,  in  that  country, 
but  chiefly  nominal  ones.  In  vain  did  the  pious  arch- 
bishop endeavour  to  reform  the  evils  and  abuses.  The 
people  undesignedly  gave  the  noblest  testimony  to  his 
sincerity,  when  they  observed,  that  it  was  impossible 
for  him  and  them  to  have  communion  with  each  other, 
because  of  the  perfect  opposition  of  life  and  conversa- 
tion. Adalbert,  sighing  over  the  wretched  objects  of 
his  charge;  and,  still  willing  to  labour  in  the  best  of 
causes,  travelled  as  a  missionary  into  Poland,  and 
planted  the  gospel  in  Dantzic.  Here  his  labours  seem 
to  have  been  crowned  with  good  success:  in  visiting 
a  small  island,  he  was  knocked  down  with  the  oar  of 
a  boat:  however,  recovering  himself,  he  made  his 
escape,  rejoicing  that  he  was  counted  worthy  to  suffer 
for  the  name  of  Christ,  and  with  his  fellow  labourers 
quitted  the  place :  indeed  he  was  forced  to  flee  for  his 
life;  and,  at  length,  was  murdered  by  barbarians  in 
Lithuania;  or,  as  some  think,  in  Prussia,  about  the 
year  997.  Siggo,  a  pagan  priest,  was  the  principal  in- 

*  Alban  Butler's  Saints'  Lives,  vol.  iv. 


247 

strument  of  his  death.  He  is  commonly  styled  the 
apostle  of  Prussia,*  though  he  only  evangelized  the 
city  of  Dantzic,  which  is  in  die  neighbourhood  of  that 
country.  Such  was  Adalbert;  and  so  small  is  the  ac- 
count transmitted  to  us,  of  one  of  the  wisest  and  best 
of  men,  whom  God  had  raised  up  for  the  instruction 
of  the  species,  a  man  willing  to  labour  and  to  suffer 
for  Christ! 

Wolfang,  bishop  of  Ratisbon,  may  properly  accom- 
pany Adalbert,  who  had  received  his  bishopric  of 
Prague,  in  consequence  of  Wolfang's  having  vacated 
part  of  his  diocese  for  that  purpose.  The  latter  was  a 
native  of  Suabia,  and  was  brought  up  at  a  school  in 
Wurtzburg.  His  experience  gave  him  an  opportunity 
of  seeing,  that  professors  of  wisdom  may  even  be 
greater  slaves  to  pride  and  envy  than  the  illiterate. 
Wearied  with  the  view  of  scholastic  strifes,  he  sighed 
for  solitude,  but  was  engaged  to  attend  Henry,  his 
friend,  to  Triers,  where  the  latter  was  chosen  arch- 
bishop. Wolfang  there  taught  children,  and  was  dean  of 
a  community  of  ecclesiastics.  In  972,  he  went  to  preach 
in  Hungary,  but  had  no  great  success.  He  was  after- 
wards appointed  bishop  of  Ratisbon:  there  he  reformed 
the  clergy,  and  was  indefatigable  in  preaching  twenty- 
two  years.  Henry,  duke  of  Bavaria,  placed  under  him 
his  four  children:  Henry,  afterwards  emperor;  Gisela, 
queen  of  Hungary;  Bruno,  bishop  of  Augsburg;  and 
Brigit,  abbess  of  Ratisbon,  all  eminent  characters. 
Wolfang  died  in  994.  See  Butler,  vol.  x. 

The  plantation  of  the  gospel  in  Brandenburg  was 
begun  by  the  zeal  and  victorious  arms  of  Charle- 
magne; but  was  not  completed,  in  a  national  sense, 
till  the  year  928,  under  Henry  the  fowler,  the  prede- 
cessor of  Otho  I.f 

The  labours  of  Gerard,  bishop  of  Toul  in  Germany, 
will  also  deserve  to  be  mentioned.  He  was  himself  an 
eminent  preacher;  and  often  commissioned  zealous 
pastors  to  preach  in  country  parishes.  He  cultivated 

*  Mosheim,  cent.  xi.  chap.  i. 

t  Memoirs  of  the  House  of  Brandenburg,  by  the  late  king  of  Prussia, 


248 

learning  among  his  disciples;  but  at  the  same  time 
took  care,  so  far  as  it  lay  in  his  power,  that  they 
should  apply  themselves  to  devotion.  That  he  vv^ould 
be  very  earnest  in  these  pious  efforts,  will  admit  of  no 
doubt,  if  it  be  true,  that  he  declared,  that  he  found 
more  delight  in  heavenly  exercises  during  one  moment, 
than  a  worldly  soul  finds  in  worldly  pleasures  for  a 
thousand  years.   Alban  Butler,  vol.  iv. 

If  we  look  into  Scandinavia,  we  find  that  the  w^ork 
of  God,  which  had  begun  so  prosperously^  in  the  last 
century,  by  the  labours  of  Anscarius,  had  met  with  a 
severe  check  in  Denmark,  whose  king,  Gormo  the 
3d,*  laboured  to  extirpate  the  gospel  there  intirely. 
His  queen  Tyra,  however,  openly  professed  it,  and 
gave  it  all  the  support  which  she  was  enabled  to  do, 
under  great  disadvantages.  But  the  power  and  influ- 
ence of  the  king  prevailed,  and  most  of  his  subjects 
returned  to  idolatry.  At  length,  Henry  I.  called  the 
fowler,  the  predecessor  of  the  great  Otho,  led  an  army 
into  Denmark;  and  through  the  terror  of  his  arms, 
obliged  Gormo  to  promise  submission  to  the  com- 
mands of  the  emperor.  Under  the  protection  of  this 
last  prince,  Unni,  then  archbishop  of  Hamburg,  with 
some  faithful  labourers,  came  into  Denmark,  and 
brought  over  many  to  the  profession  of  divine  truth; 
but  Gormo  himself  remained  inflexible.  Harald,  the 
son  of  Gormo,  however,  received  the  word  with  res- 
pect: for  the  instruction  of  his  mother,  Tyra,  had,  at 
least,  removed  all  prejudice  from  his  mind.  Unni, 
with  the  consent  of  Gormo,  visited  the  islands,  and 
formed  christian  churches  among  them.  The  king 
himself  was  allowed  by  his  conqueror  Henry,  to  choose, 
whether  he  would  receive  Christianity  himself,  or  not; 
but  was  prohibited  from  persecuting  the  faith,  in  his 
dominions:  and  thus,  by  a  singular  concurrence  of 
circumstances,  a  sovereign  prince  was,  by  a  foreign 
power,  prevented  from  committing  that  evil  among 
his  subjects,  to  which  his  own  inclinations  would  have 

•  Centuriat.  cent.  x.  Mosheim,  cent.  x.  c.  i. 


249 

led  him.  I  cannot  vindicate  the  imperious  proceedings 
of  Henry:  the  labours  of  Unni  were,  however,  highly 
laudable,  and  providence  smiled  on  his  benevolent 
views  in  propagating  truth  and  holiness. 

Unni,  animated  with  success,  determined  to  follow 
the  pattern  of  Anscarius,  and  to  visit  the  kingdom  of 
Sweden.  He  entered  the  Baltic,  and  arrived  at  Birca: 
there  he  found  that  the  gospel  had  been  extinct:  for 
seventy  years,  no  bishop  had  appeared  among  them, 
except  Rembert,  the  successor  of  Anscarius.  There 
probably  were,  however  some  souls  then  alive,  who 
had  heard  the  gospel  with  joy  in  former  times:  and  it 
pleased  God,  to  give  large  success  to  the  ministry  of 
Unni.  He  fixed  the  gospel  in  Sweden,  and  planted  it 
even  in  the  remoter  parts  of  that  northern  region. 
And,  at  length,  he  finished  his  glorious  course  at  Bir- 
ca, in  the  year  936.  1  he  savage  disposition  of  the 
princes,  and  the  confusion  of  the  times  had  tendtd  to 
obliterate  the  traces  of  Anscariuj»'s  lai)0urs:  but,  at 
length,  Eric,  the  eighth  king  of  Sweden,  and  still 
more,  his  son  and  successor,  Olaus  the  second,  fa- 
voured the  propagation  of  the  gospel. 

The  former  of  these  princes  requested  the  archbi- 
shop of  Bremen  to  supply  his  kingdom  with  mission- 
aries. The  archbishop  sent  him  two  persons  of  know- 
ledge, piety,  and  integrity,  Adalvard  and  Stephen. 
They  laboured  with  much  success  for  a  time;  but  the 
natural  enmity  of  depraved  mankind  will  exert  itself 
against  true  piety,  whatever  be  the  form  of  govern- 
ment under  which  men  live.  The  nobles  of  Sweden 
were  enraged  to  find  their  licentiousness  of  manners 
so  restrained:  and  they  commenced  a  religious  perse- 
cution against  both  the  missionaries  and  the  king.  The 
former  were  beaten  with  rods,  and  expelled  from  Up- 
sal:  the  latter  was  murdered  on  account  of  his  piety. 
His  son  and  successor  Olaus  was  not  discouraged  from 
cherishing  Christianity;  and  his  zeal  and  piety  were 
crowned  with  success.  Cent.  Magd.  cent.  x. 

Thus  were  Sweden  and  Denmark,  after  a  variety  of 
changes,  reduced  into  subjection  to  the  form,  and,  no 


250 

doubt,  many  individuals  to  the  power  of  the  gospel. 
In  the  latter  country,  after  the  death  of  Hemy  1.  the 
inhabitants  refused  to  pay  tribute  to  Othothe  great,  his 
successor.  This  monarch  obliged  them  to  submit,  and 
required  Harald,  the  son  and  successor  of  Gormo,  to 
receive  christian  baptism.  All  that  we  know  of  this 
prince,  inclines  me  to  believe,  that  there  was  no  reluc- 
tance on  his  part.  He  was  baptized,  together  with  his 
wife  and  little  son,  whose  name  had  been  Sueno;  and, 
in  honour  of  the  emperor,  he  was  now  called  Suen- 
Otho.  Harald,  during  his  whole  life,  took  every  wise 
and  salutary  method  to  propagate  divine  truth  among 
his  subjects,  and  to  restrain  vice  and  immorality.  Nor 
is  it  much  to  be  doubted,  that  he  would  instruct  his 
son  Suen-Otho  to  act  in  the  same  manner,  and  labour 
to  impress  on  his  mind  the  power  of  that  divine  reli- 
gion, which  he  himself  seems  to  have  felt.  Be  that  as 
it  may,  Suen-Otho  formed  a  junction  with  the  chiefs 
of  the  country,  who  were  offended  at  the  pious  zeal  of 
Harald:  in  consequence  of  which,  the  latter  was  mur- 
dered: and  Suen-Otho,  renouncing  even  the  name, 
which  had  been  imposed  on  him,  persecuted  the  chris- 
tians with  great  cruelty;  and,  for  a  time,  gave  a  pre- 
dominancy to  the  pagan  interest  in  his  dominions.  It 
is  remarkable,  however,  that,  like  another  Manasseh, 
in  his  affliction  he  knew  that  the  Lord  was  God.  Be- 
ing expelled  from  his  throne,  and  forced  to  live  in  ex- 
ile among  the  Scots,  he  was  induced  to  remember  the 
lessons  of  his  childhood:  he  repented  of  his  crimes; 
and,  being  restored  to  his  throne,  like  the  same  Ma- 
nasseh he  laboured  to  destroy  the  idolatry,  which  he 
had  supported,  and,  in  the  latter  part  of  his  life,  trode 
in  the  steps  of  his  father. 

In  this  century,  the  light  of  the  gospel  penetrated 
into  Norway.*^  About  the  year  912,  an  English  mis- 
sionary, named  Bernard,  attempted  to  plant  the  doc- 
trine of  Christ  in  this  barbarous  region.  Olaus,  the 
king,  listened  to  his  discourses,  and  professed  himself 

*  Centuriat.  cent.  x.     Mosheim,  cent  x.  chap.  i. 


251 

to  be  a  convert;  but  he  still  attended  to  omens  and 
gentile  superstitions.  All  the  arguments  of  Bernard 
were  ineffectual,  to  cure  him  of  his  inveterate  propen- 
sities: whence  he  was  more  a  disgrace  than  an  orna- 
ment to  his  profession.  About  the  year  933,  another 
king,  called  Hagen,  who  had  been  educated  among 
the  English,  employed  certain  missionaries  of  that  na- 
tion, to  instruct  his  subjects.  But  the  Norwegians  per- 
sisted in  their  idolatry;  and  his  successor  Graufeldt 
pursued  the  same  plan,  but  without  effect.  Several 
successive  princes  laboured  in  the  same  cause,  with 
the  same  ill  success.  The  form  of  a  government  es- 
tablished in  any  country,  from  experience  seems  to 
have  beei).  of  no  capital  moment  in  regard  to  the  suc- 
cess of  christian  missions.  Despotism,  limited  mo- 
narchy, and  republicanism,  have  each  been  serviceable 
or  detrimental  in  the  cause;  and  to  associate  strongly 
any  one  of  these  forms  with  the  progress  of  the  gospel, 
is,  perhaps,  forming  an  imagination  of  an  alliance  be- 
tween church  and  state,  that  has  no  solid  foundation  in 
nature.  We  see,  in  the  case  before  us,  that  a  republi- 
can form  would  have  proved  destructive  to  the  best  of 
causes.  It  is  to  the  effusion  of  the  holy  Spirit,  direct- 
ing subordinate  causes,  and,  independently  of  mere 
human  politics,  that  the  success  of  the  gospel  is  ever 
to  be  ascribed.  At  length,  Haco,  king  of  Norway,  be- 
ing driven  from  his  throne,  on  account  of  his  tyran- 
nical government,  having  himself  also  persecuted  the 
christians  in  Norway,  and  having  put  himself  into  the 
protection  of  that  same  Harald  of  Denmark,  whom  we 
have  already  celebrated,  became  a  patron  of  Christi- 
anity among  his  people.  For  Harald  both  instructed 
him  in  the  nature  of  Christianity,  and  restored  him  to 
his  dominions.  Haco,  humbled  and  enhghtened,  re- 
commended the  gospel  in  an  assembly  of  the  people, 
in  the  year  945.  His  zeal  and  solemnity  were  very 
striking;  but  the  fierce  and  barbarous  people  were  not 
much  moved;  and  the  remembrance  of  his  former  ill 
conduct  would  naturally  prejudice  their  minds  against 
his  arguments.  Olaus,  who  reigned  some  time  after. 


252 

was  the  most  successful  of  all  the  Norwegian  princes 
in  recommending  Christianity.  At  length,  Svvein,  king 
of  Denmark,  having  made  himself  master  of  Norway, 
obliged  his  subjects  universally  to  renounce  their, 
gods,  and  profess  the  gospel.  Doubtless  many  compul- 
sory methods  were  used  by  several,  probably  by  all 
these  princes,  by  no  means  agreeable  to  the  genius  of 
the  gospel.  Their  intentions,  however,  seem  laudable; 
and  at  least  the  zealous  labours  of  the  missionaries  de- 
serve to  be  noticed.  Among  these,  Guthebald,  an 
English  pastor,  was  most  eminent.  The  idol  Thor  was 
dragged  from  its  place,  and  publicly  burnt  in  the  sight 
of  its  worshippers.  In  fact,  Norway  became  christian, 
in  the  form  of  its  religion,  throughout.  The  Orkney 
islands,  then  subject  to  the  Norwegian  crown,  receiv- 
ed the  light  of  the  gospel,  which,  in  some  degree,  pe- 
netrated also  into  Iceland  and  Greenland;  and,  in  this 
century,  the  triumph  of  Christianity  was  complete 
throughout  all  Scandinavia. 

The  labours  of  Adelbert,  the  first  archbishop  of 
Magdeburg,  will  deserve  to  be  mentioned  in  this 
place.  The  Rugi,  about  the  year  960,  entreated  the 
emperor  Otho  I.  to  send  them  a  christian  bishop. 
This  people  lived  in  Pomerania,  between  the  Oder 
and  the  Wipper,  and  in  the  isle  of  Rugen  in  the  Baltic. 
The  town  of  Rugenwald  still  bears  their  name.  They 
were  a  remarkably  savage  race,  and  had  a  famous  tem- 
ple in  Rugen.  Certain  monks  of  the  mission  seminary 
of  New  Corbie,  had  formerly  laboured  with  success,  in 
various  provinces  of  the  Sclavi  or  Sclavonians,  and  in 
the  whole  isle  of  Rugen,  the  Rugi  being  a  tribe  of  the 
Sclavi.  An  oratory  was  erected  in  the  isle,  in  honour  of 
Christ,  and  in  memory  of  St.  Vitus,  patron  of  New 
Corbie.  But  the  savage  people  soon  relapsed;  and 
making  Vitus  the  chief  of  their  gods,  erected  to  him  a 
temple  and  idol  with  sacrifices,  permitting  no  merchant 
to  buy  or  sell  there,  who  did  not  first  give  some  offer- 
ing for  their  sacrifices,  or  for  the  temple  of  their  god, 
whom  they  now  called  Swantewith.  "  Xhus,'  says 
Helmodus,  "  the  man  whom  we  confess  a  martyr  and 


253 

servant  of  Christ,  they  adore  as  god,  a  creature  for  the 
Creator;  nor  is  there  any  nation,  who  so  much  abhors 
christians,  especially  pastors."  A  memorable  caution 
for  teachers,  to  beware,  lest  their  instructions  of  the 
heathen  may  only  lead  them  from  one  species  of  ido- 
latry to  another.  However,  at  their  desire,  Otho  I.  sent 
Adelbert  to  the  isle.  But  the  people  were  hardened: 
several  of  his  fellow  preachers  were  murdered,  but  he 
himself  escaped.  This  fruitless  mission  was  in  961. 
Adelbert  was  afterwards,  in  970,  appointed  archbishop 
of  Magdeburg,  where  Adelaide  the  empress,  and  wi- 
dow of  Otho  I.  passed  the  greatest  part  of  her  time, 
and  gave  herself  up  very  much  to  his  directions:  she 
had  gone  through  a  great  variety  of  prosperity  and  ad- 
versity, and  was  very  pious  and  exemplary.  Adelbert 
was  an  instrument  of  converting  great  numbers  of  the 
Sclavi:  he  supplied  his  diocese  with  able  pastors  for 
the  new  converts,  and  died  in  982,  having  very  lauda- 
bly ruled  the  church  for  tw^eive  years.  See  Butler, 
vol.  xii. 

In  the  preceding  century,  Rollo,  a  Norwegian  pi- 
rate, at  the  head  of  a  valiant  and  lawless  band  of  sol- 
diers, who  are  commonly  called  Normans,  invaded 
and  ravaged  France.  But  in  the  year  912,  Charles  the 
simple,  a  monarch  ill  calculated  to  withstand  so  pow- 
erful an  enemy,  purchased  a  peace,  by  investing  Rollo 
with  the  dukedom  of  Normandy,  and  by  giving  him 
his  daughter  Gisela  in  marriage,  on  condition  that  he 
should  embrace  Christianity.  All  religions  were  equally 
indifferent  to  Rollo  and  his  followers:  they,  therefore, 
professed  the  gospel  without  the  least  hesitation.  It 
seemed  proper  to  notice  this  event,  as  introducing  the 
famous  line  of  Norman  dukes  into  France,  whose  his- 
tory, in  process  of  time,  involves  so  much  both  of 
French  and  English  history.  As  for  the  rest,  I  know 
of  no  evidence  of  an  effusion  of  the  divine  Spirit, 
which  attended  their  reception  of  Christianity.  The 
Normans,  however,  became  gradually  better  members 
of  society;  and,  at  length,  began  to  patronize,  in  some 

Vol.  III.  33 


254 

form  or  other,  something  that  bore  the  appearance  of 
more  serious  rehgion. 

While  the  nations,  who  had  long  enjoyed  the  forms 
of  true  religion,  were  slumbering  in  superstitions,  or 
wallowing  in  gross  wickedness,  the  Head  of  the 
church,  in  his  providence,  still  reserved  to  himself  a 
GODLY  seed;  and,  by  their  labours,  extended  the 
pale  of  the  gospel.  Poland  had  hitherto  remained  in 
the  thickest  night  of  ignorance,  and  both  an  inland 
situation  and  a  barbarous  neighbourhood  seemed  to 
exclude  it  from  the  light  of  divine  truth.  Some  Poles, 
however,  travelling  into  Bohemia*  and  Moravia,  on 
account  of  business,  were  struck  with  what  they  heard 
concerning  Christianity:  they  listened  to  the  ministry 
of  the  word  of  God,  and  received  it  gladly.  Returning 
home,  they  every  where  recommended  to  their  coun- 
trymen the  grace  of  the  gospel.  Moreover,  foreigners 
often  visiting  Poland,  on  account  of  trade,  preached 
Christ,  as  they  were  able,- to  the  Poles.  Something 
divinely  excellent  appeared  to  be  in  Christianity;  and 
the  happy  infection  spread  from  heart  to  heart.  It 
reached,  at  length,  Micislaus,  the  king  or  duke  of 
Poland;  who  divorced  his  seven  wives,  with  whom  he 
had  cohabited,  and  married  Dambrouca,  the  daughter 
of  Boleslaus,  the  duke  of  Bohemia.  He  was  baptized 
in  the  year  965;  and,  by  the  pious  and  charitable  in- 
structions of  his  new  spouse,  was  induced  to  exert  his 
authority  in  the  propagation  of  the  gospel  through  his 
dominions:  in  fine,  Poland  became  a  christian  nation; 
nor  is  it  probable  that  this  was  no  more  than  an  exter- 
nal profession:  that  it  was  so  in  some  instances,  there 
is  no  doubt;  but,  nevertheless,  the  circumstances  of 
the  narrative  carry  the  appearance  of  something  truly 
divine.  Nor  is  that  true,  which  Mosheimf  asserts, 
that  an  inward  change  of  aifections  and  principles,  was 
far  from  being  an  object  of  attention  in  this  barbarous 
age.  It  seems  most  probable,  that  it  was  an  object  of 
attention  in  the  missionaries,  and  in  those,  who  zeal- 

*  Cent.  Magd.  |  Chap.  J.  cent.  x. 


f 


255 

©usly  received  them.  We  have  seen,  in  several  in- 
stances,  an  evidence  of  zeal  in  preaching,  and  a  con- 
stancy in  suffering,  which  can  scarce  be  explained  on 
any  other  principle  than  that  of  godly  sincerity.  And 
we  have  lived  to  see  a  refined  age  as  indifferent  con- 
cerning an  inward  change  as  any  barbarous  period 
whatever. 

In  the  year  955,  Olga,  the  queen  of  Russia,  sailed 
from  Kiow  to  Constantinople,  and  received  baptism, 
together  with  her  attendants.  On  her  return,  she  per- 
severed in  the  christian  religion,  but  could  not  prevail 
on  her  family  and  subjects,  to  receive  the  same:  the 
Greek  missionaries,  however,  laboured  still,  and  gra- 
dually succeeded.*  At  length,  Wolodomir,  her  grand- 
son, in  the  year  961,  married  Anna,  sister  of  the  em- 
peror Basil,  who,  by  her  zealous  importunity,  prevailed 
on  her  spouse  to  receive  Christianity.  He  was  baptized 
in  the  year  987;  and,  from  that  time,  Russia  received 
a  christian  establishment,  and  has  ever  since  considered 
herself  as  a  daughter  of  the  Greek  church. 

Ulric,  son  of  count  Hucbald,  born  in  893,  was  pla- 
ced at  Augsburg  under  the  care  of  Adalberon,  bishop 
of  that  city.  He  was  made,  at  length,  bishop  of  Augs- 
burg, by  the  emperor,  Henry  the  fowler.  He  com- 
forted his  people,  who  had  been  plundered  by  the 
Hungarians:  he  avoided  the  court:  he  kept  close  to  his 
flock,  and  was  equally  renowned  for  devotion,  and  for 
pastoral  labours.  He  died  about  973. 

Thus,  in  an  age  of  proverbial  darkness,  that  illus- 
trious prophecy  continued  to  receive  its  accomplish- 
ment; "  Kings  shall  be  thy  nursing  fathers,  and  their 
queens  thy  nursing  mothers."!  The  regular  and  ci- 
vilized governments  in  the  world  sustained  such 
dreadful  calamities  from  the  irruption  of  pagan  na- 
tions, on  all  sides,  that  their  encouragement  of  chris- 
tian missions  was  equally  humane  and  prudential.  The 
precepts  of  the  gospel  were  found  alone  effectual  to 
meliorate  the  dispositions  of  barbarians;  and,  under  the 
influence  of  the  holy  Spirit,  no  doubt,  this  was  the 


*  Gibbon,  vol.  v.  f  Isaiah,  xlix. 


I 


256 

happy  eftbct  on  the  minds  of  many.  But,  it  will  still 
be  said,  "  the  conversion  of  a  great  number  was  only 
nominal,  and  compulsory  methods  were  employed, 
which  are  by  no  means  adapted  to  the  genius  of  the 
gospel."  It  must  be  allowed,  that  the  latter  of  these 
assertions  is  strictly  true,  and  the  former,  in  many  in- 
stances, but  by  no  means  in  all.  The  efforts  of  the 
tenth  and  the  three  preceding  centuries,  to  extend 
Christianity,  had  their  blemiohes,  which  have  been 
malignantly  insisted  on,  and  even  exaggerated  by  mo- 
dern writers.  Defective,  however,  as  these  efforts 
were,  they  form  the  principal  glory  of  those  times; 
and  partly,  by  evident  proofs,  and  a  detail  of  circum- 
stances, and  partly  by  analogy  and  the  nature  of  things, 
they  appear  to  have  been  attended  with  the  effusion  of 
the  divine  Spirit,  the  genuine  conversion  of  numbers, 
and  the  improvement  of  human  society.  The  virtues 
of  many,  at  least  of  the  missionaries  are  above  any  en- 
comium, which  I  can  give;  though  they  were  born  in 
rude  ages,  and  are  consigned  to  contempt  and  obli- 
vion by  polite  historians,  who  lavish  all  their  praises 
on  heroes  and  politicians.  If,  however,  the  labours  of 
an  obscure  individual  may  attract  the  attention  of  the 
public,  the  names  of  Boniface,  Anscarius,  Adalbert, 
Unni,  and  others  of  the  same  class,  shall  be  honoured 
among  men,  and  the  work  of  propagating  the  gospel 
shall  appear  laudable  in  an  extreme  degree.  It  must 
appear  so  to  all,  who  desire  that  the  name  of  Jesus 
should  be  honoured  through  the  earth,  and  that  the 
power  of  his  grace  should  be  felt  in  every  place,  and 
in  every  heart.  But  to  what  lengths  will  not  scepti- 
cism proceed?  It  has  even  been  advanced,  that  the 
attempt  to  propagate  Christianity,  without  the  consent 
of  the  government  established  in  every  fcountry,  is  un- 
lawful in  its  nature.  A  position  so  injurious  to  the 
character  of  many  of  the  best  and  wisest  men,  whom 
it  behooves  us  to  celebrate  in  this  history,  and  so  con- 
veniently favourable  to  the  selfish,  avaricious,  indolent 
spirit  of  nominal  cliristians,  will  deserve  to  be  inves- 
tigated and  exposed  in  its  genuine  colours. 


257 

CHAP.  III. 

jin  Apology  for  Christian  Missiotis. 

JL  he  commission,  which  our  Saviour  gave  to  his 
apostles,  a  little  before  his  ascension,  forms  of  itself 
the  strongest  apology  for  the  practice  of  christian  mis- 
sionaries in  all  ages.  "  Go  ye,  and  teach  all  nations, 
baptizing  them  in  the  name  of  the  Father,  and  of  the 
Son,  and  of  the  Holyghost:  teaching  them  to  observe 
all  things,  whatsoever  I  have  commanded  you :  and, 
lo,  I  am  with  you  alway,  even  unto  the  end  of  the 
world."* 

It  may  not  be  said,  that  this  commission  of  evange- 
lizing all  nations  is  restricted  to  the  apostles,  because 
he,  who  gave  these  directions,  declares,  he  will  always 
be  with  those,  who  obey  them,  to  the  end  of  the  world. 
The  commission  is  then  as  much  in  force  at  this  day, 
as  it  was  in  the  first  age  of  Christianity;  and  will  con- 
tinue in  force,  till  time  shall  be  no  more.  The  promise 
of  divine  support,  to  encourage  the  missionaries  in  the 
prosecution  of  a  work  so  arduous  and  so  difficult,  ex- 
tends to  all  ages,  and  would  be  perfectly  inapplicable 
to  those  ages,  if  any  such  there  were,  which  should 
have  no  right  to  propagate  the  gospel. 

"  Is  every  person  then,  calling  himself  a  christian, 
authorized  to  preach  the  gospel  among  the  heathen  na- 
tions?" Not  so:  nor  is  every  person  called  a  christian 
authorized  to  preach  in  christian  countries.  Certain 
qualifications  and  endowments,  and,  above  all,  the  real 
and  genuine  influence  of  the  holy  Spirit,  are  necessary 
for  this  purpose.  To  define  and  to  ascertain  these  in 
particular  cases,  enter  not  into  the  subject  before  us. 
Suffice  it  to  say,  that,  however,  in  point  of  prudence 
and  expediency,  it  be  proper  to  procure,  if  practicable, 

*  Matthew,  xxviii.  19, 20- 


258 

the  consent  and  concurrence  of  the  government  of  the 
country,  which  is  the  object  of  the  mission,  such  con- 
sent jind  concurrence  are  not  necessary  as  a  legitimate 
qualification  of  a  missionary,  who  should  undertake  to 
evangelize  pagan  countries.  Our  Lord  well  knew,  that 
such  consent  was  not  attainable  at  the  time  in  which 
he  gave  this  commission,  in  any  country  under  hea- 
ven. He  mentions  no  such  condition,  nor  did  the  apos- 
tles conceive  the  necessity  of  such  a  license.  It  is  well 
known,  on  the  contrary,  that  they  persisted  in  their  mis- 
sion, not  only  without  the  consent,  but  also  against  the 
express  prohibitions  of  all  governments,  whether  Jewish 
or  gentile.  The  nature  and  reasonableness  of  Christianity 
itself  is  such,  that,  wherever  it  is  fairly  exhibited,  in 
connexion  with  its  proper  proofs  and  evidences,  those,, 
who  hear  it,  are  bound  in  conscience  to  obey  it,  ma- 
gistrates, as  well  as  others;  and,  as  we  have  seen,  the 
magistrate  himself  not  only  may,  but  ought  to  promote 
it,  for  the  good  of  society.* 

"  But  the  apostles  wrought  miracles;  and  therefore, 
though  they  had  a  right  to  propagate  Christianity,  oth- 
ers, who  do  not  so,  have  no  right  to  preach,  except 
with  the  consent  of  the  government.,"  It  does  not  ap- 
pear, that  the  evidence  of  their  commission  rested 
wholly  on  miracles,  though  it  must  be  confessed  these 
formed  a  striking  part  of  it,  and  were  afforded  by  di- 
vine providence,  in  order  to  facilitate  the  progress  of 
the  then  infant  religion.  But  if,  what  no  serious  chris- 
tian will  deny,  there  is  an  internal  evidence  in  the  gos- 
pel itself,  which  ought  to  weigh  with  every  reasonable 
mind,  abstracted  from  any  thing  miraculous,  it  will  be 
the  duty  of  every  one  to  receive  it,  when  fairly  pro- 
posed; and  the  obedience  due  to  divine  revelation  is 
binding  not  only  on  those  who  hear  it  from  one,  who 
works  miracles;  but  also  on  those  who  hear  it  from 
one,  who  brings  unexceptionable  testimonies  of  mira- 
cles having  been  wrought  by  others,  in  attestation  of 
Christianity.  Whoever  attentively  reads  the  history  of 

'  See  chap.xvli.  vol.  ii. 


259 

the  acts  of  the  apostles,  and  the  historical  parts  of  the 
epistles,  will  find,  that  all  ministers,  regularly  ordained, 
(for  the  case  of  selfordained  ministers,  I  do  not  here 
consider,)  thought  it  their  duty  to  preach  the  word 
every  where,  whether  they  could  work  miracles  or 
not.  The  miraculous  powers  were  an  adventitious  cir- 
cumstance; of  great  importance,  indeed,  in  the  open- 
ing of  Christianity;  but  if  the  stress  of  an  evangelical 
commission  to  the  heathen  had  ever  been  meant  to  be 
laid  upon  it,  it  is  surprising,  that  this  condition  should 
never  be  mentioned  in  the  sacred  volume:  it  is  not  to 
be  conceived,  that  the  numberless  missionaries  in  the 
apostolic  age  should  all  have  been  ignorant  of  it.  Be- 
sides, with  the  cessation  of  miracles,  the  work  of  pro- 
mulgation must  have  probably  ceased;  whereas,  it  ap- 
pears, that  in  the  succeeding  centuries,  even  to  the 
tenth,  missionaries  still  laboured;  and,  in  a  greater  or 
less  degree,  the  work  prospered  in  their  hand. 

If  these  reflections  have  any  weight,  they  show  that 
it  has  been  inconsiderately  asserted,  that  civil  govern- 
ments alone  have  a  right  to  determine,  whether  chris- 
tian missionaries  shall  preach  the  gospel  or  not  within 
their  dominions.  I  have  proved,  I  think,  that  they 
have  a  right  to  establish  Christianity;  but  it  does  not 
follow,  that  they  have  a  right  to  exclude  it.  Right  and 
wrong,  in  this  case,  have  a  higher  foundation  than  hu- 
man politics.  Trajan  might  think  himself  justified  in 
persecuting  christians,  because  they  transgressed  the 
Roman  laws,  which  forbade  the  introduction  of  foreign 
religions.  But  Trajan  ought  to  have  known,  that  there 
is  an  authority  in  religion,  superior  to  any  human  con- 
stitutions whatever. 

Though  the  authority  of  scripture,  the  practice  of 
the  apostolic  age,  and  the  labours  of  the  best  and 
wisest  of  their  successors,  from  age  to  age,  seem, 
taken  together,  to  form  a  sufficient  apology  for  chris- 
tian missions  at  this  day,  yet  we  need  not  fear,  in  this 
cause,  to  appeal  to  the  common  sense  of  mankind.  If 
a  whole  nation  were  afflicted  with  a  pestilential  dis- 
ease, and  a  foreigner  were  in  possession  of  a  medicine, 


26d 

that  might  probably  save  many  of  their  lives,  it  might 
be  prudent,  no  doubt,  for  that  foreigner  to  obtain  an 
express  license,  if  practicable,  from  the  government, 
for  affording  medical  aid  to  its  subjects.  But  will  any 
man  say,  that  it  would  be  wrong  in  him  to  endeavour 
to  heal  the  diseased,  if  he  had  an  opportunity,  and 
had  the  benevolence  to  attempt  it,  though  he  had  no 
formal  sanction  from  the  magistrate?  To  promote  the 
welfare  of  our  neighbours,  is,  next  to  our  duty  to  God, 
the  most  essential  ingredient  in  the  character  of  a 
good  man.  Is  the  express  consent  of  the  legislature 
necessary,  antecedently  to  every  office  of  mercy  and 
humanity?  It  is  not  necessary  to  say,  that  the  propa- 
gation of  the  gospel  is  the  most  salutary  and  the  most 
important  of  all  works  of  charity:  what  then  ought 
to  be  thought  of  an  objection  to  it,  which  leaves  to 
the  mercy  of  the  magistrate  the  great  office  of  la- 
bouring to  win  souls;  and  would  charge  with  sin  an 
employment  of  all  others  the  most  beneficent  to  man- 
kind? 

"  Is  not  this  to  teach  rebellion  against  lawful  autho- 
rity, and  to  countenance  an  undue  interference  with 
foreign  governments?"  Could  this  be  proved,  I  should 
not  know  how  to  apologize  for  missionaries.  For  I 
scarce  know  any  thing  more  diametrically  opposite  to 
the  genius  of  the  gospel  than  such  a  conduct.  Let  it  be 
carefully  observed,  that  our  argument  goes  no  farther 
than  to  justify  a  pacific  attempt  to  teach  Christianity 
throughout  the  globe.  "  If  they  persecute  you  in  one 
city,  flee  ye  into  another,"  is  the  rule  of  the  divine 
Author  of  Christianity.  A  missionary  must  be  pre- 
pared to  endure,  not  to  inflict  evil:  he  may  expect  op- 
position, and  even  death  itself.  He  must  patiently 
sustain  his  lot:  he  must  forego  not  only  all  violence 
in  attempting  to  propagate  Christianity,  but  also  all 
artifice  and  secular  intrigues:  he  must  not  only  for- 
bear to  disturb  the  government  of  the  country,  and  to 
weaken  men's  attachment  to  it,  but  he  must  do  more: 
he  must  teach  obedience  to  it,  as  an  essential  branch 
of  Christianity  itself,  and  an  obedience  too,  "  not  only 


261 

for  wrath,  but  also  for  conscience'  sake."  If  his  word 
is  not  received  in  one  place,  he  must  make  experi- 
ment of  another,  in  dependence  on  di\'ine  providence 
and  grace.  Meekness,  patience,  submission  to  civil 
authority  must  attend  him  in  every  step.  Such  were 
the  apostolic  missionaries;  such  in  a  good  degree  were 
the  missionaries  of  the  dark  ages,  which  we  are  re- 
viewing. And  I  am  apt  to  think,  that  those,  who  ob- 
ject to  missions  in  general,  have  had  their  eye  on  the 
political  craft  of  the  Jesuits,  or  the  furious  factions  of 
enthusiasts.  For  I  can  scarce  believe  we  are  grown  so 
totally  callous  to  every  christian  sensation,  as  delibe- 
rately to  condemn  all  missions  conducted  in  the  spirit 
of  the  gospel. 

Do  we  expect  that  the  kingdom  of  Christ  shall 
spread  through  all  nations,  according  to  numerous 
prophecies?  and  arc  no  means  to  be  employed  to 
promote  it?  Shall  we  complain  of  the  want  of  univer- 
sality in  the  best  religion,  and  discourage  every  at- 
tempt to  effect  that  universality?  With  what  an  ill 
grace  do  objectors  to  the  propagation  of  the  gospel 
make  such  complaints?  Are  human  efforts  concerned 
in  all  other  works  of  divine  providence?  and  are  they 
in  this,  the  most  important  of  all,  to  be  excluded? 
Are  we  to  sit  still,  and  expect  some  sudden  and  mira- 
culous providential  interposition?  and  is  this  the  only 
instance,  in  which  socinians  and  men,  who  call  them- 
selves rational  christians,  will  use  no  rational  methods, 
in  order  to  produce  the  most  desirable  effects?  Or 
have  we  learned  to  despise  the  importance  of  Christi- 
anity itself?  and  do  we  think  that  the  present  comfort 
and  future  felicity  of  mankind  are  no  way  connected 
with  the  subject  before  us? 

I  propose  these  few  questions,  leaving  the  resolu- 
tion of  them  to  the  consciences  of  those,  who  have  had 
it  in  their  power  to  encourage  christian  missions  in 
our  times,  and  who  have  opposed  them.  To  have 
been  particularly  active  in  extending  the  Redeemer's 
kingdom,  forms  no  part  of  the  glory  of  this  country. 
Denmark,  a  poor  impotent  government,  compared  with 

Vol.  III.  U 


262 

ours,  has,  it  is  well  known,  effected  in  iliifj  way  what 
may  cause  Britons  to  blush,  and  what  should  stir  us  up 
to  virtuous  emulation.  With  every  advantage  in  our 
hands,  for  the  propagation  of  the  gospel,  we  have  done 
very  little  indeed;  and  the  annals  of  the  several  dark 
ages,  we  have  reviewed,  have  exhibited  a  spirit  of  ad- 
venturous charity  unknown  to  those,  who  now  boast 
themselves  as  the  most  enlightened  and  the  most  phi- 
losophic of  mankind. 


CHAP.  IV. 

fFriters  and  Eminent  Men  in  this  Century. 

IN  a  dearth  so  excessive,  there  are  few,  who  will  de- 
serve to  be  noticed  either  for  knowledge  or  for  piety; 
and  fewer  still  for  both.  My  chief  view,  in  this  chap- 
ter, is  to  give  the  reader  an  idea  of  the  state  of  true 
religion  in  these  times;  nor  will  the  picture  here  exhi- 
bited be  materially  erroneous,  though  it  could  be 
proved,  that  Theophylact,  one  of  the  authors,  whom 
I  shall  quote,  belonged  to  the  next  century,  as  Mo- 
sheim  thinks.  For  the  spirit  and  taste  of  the  tenth 
and  eleventh  centuries  are  so  similar,  that  what  illus- 
trates the  one,  will  illustrate  the  other.  The  very  to- 
leration of  the  Roman  popedom  itself,  after  the  detec- 
tion of  its  flagitiousness  before  all  the  world,  evinces 
the  uncommonly  low  condition  of  christian  knowledge 
in  this  age:  proofs,  however,  will  appear,  that  the 
Spirit  of  God  had  not  forsaken  the  church,  and  that 
there  were  those,  who  reverenced  and  felt  the  power 
of  her  doctrines. 

It  is  not  in  Rome,  but  in  the  more  recent  churches, 
that  this  power  appears.  Whether  it  was  practically 
exemplified  by  Bruno,  archbishop  of  Cologne,  in 
Germany,  is  not  very  evident.  But,  in  knowledge  and 
learning,  he  was  very  eminent.    He  was  brother  to 


263 

Otho  I.  and,  by  the  desire  of  the  people  of  Cologne, 
was  fixed  by  that  great  prince  in  the  archbishopric. 
We  must  not  expect  much  regard  to  ecclesiastical 
discipline  in  these  times;  and  therefore  are  not  to  be 
surprised,  that  a  prince,  so  religious  as  Otho  was, 
should  invest  his  relation  also  with  the  civil  power  of 
a  dukedom.  Bruno  is  remarked,  however,  to  have 
been  among  the  first,  who  united  offices  so  discordant 
in  the  same  person.*  This  was  to  secularize  the 
church;  and  Cologne  continues  in  a  similar  state  to 
this  day.  Bruno  was  nevertheless  an  assiduous  pro- 
moter of  religion.  Normans,  Danes,  and  various 
others,  who  travelled  in  his  province,  he  brought  over 
to  the  profession  of  Christianity.  He  restrained  die 
luxury  both  of  clergy  and  people;  and  was  himself  a 
shining  example  of  modest  and  frugal  manners.  He 
died  about  the  year  965. 

Unni,  a  far  more  decided  character,  has  been  alrea- 
dy celebrated.  As  archbishop  of  Hamburg,  he  acted 
with  a  vigor  and  a  piety  worthy  the  importance  of  that 
see.  He  was  highly  reverenced  by  the  German  em- 
perors of  his  time;  and  that  a  person  so  opulent  should 
choose  to  labour  as  a  missionary  in  such  countries  as 
Denmark  and  Sweden,  argues  a  zeal  of  no  common 
degree.  He  died  at  Stockholm  in  936. f 

By  the  advice  of  Adolvard,  bishop  of  Verden, 
Adeldagus,  who  had  discharged  some  petty  office  in 
the  church,  was  sent  for  to  court  b)^  the  great  Otho, 
and  made  his  chancellor.  On  the  death  of  Unni,  he 
was  appointed  archbishop  of  Hamburg,  but  was  so 
acceptable,  by  his  talents  and  industry,  to  the  empe- 
ror, that  he  still  continued  in  the  same  secular  em- 
ployments. Adeldagus  sent  a  number  of  pastors  into 
Denmark,  and  was  present  with  Otho  at  Rome  when 
the  popedom  was  reformed.  His  flock,  however,  at 
Hamburg  complained,  and  not  without  reason,  of  his 
absence  from  them.  The  emperor,  at  length,  gave  him 
liberty  to  return  home.    His  care  of  the  poor,  and 

*  Cent.  Magd.  cent.  s.  vol.  iii.  t  lUid. 


264.< 

many  rathei'  princely  than  pastoral  virtues,  were  re- 
markable. But  I  can  form  no  great  idea  of  the  spiri- 
tuality of  a  man,  who  neglects  residence  among  his 
flock,  and  continues  to  act  in  a  secular  capacity  under 
three  successive  princes,  while  he  holds  a  bishopric. 
He  served  Otho  II.  and  III.  with  the  same  success 
and  ability  with  which  he  had  done  Otho  I.  and  after 
he  had  held  his  bishopric  53  years,  he  died  under 
Otho  III.  in  the  year  988.* 

Libentius,  an  Italian,  by  the  desire  of  Adeldagus, 
was  appointed  his  successor.  Much  is  said  in  praise 
of  this  prelate.  He  often  visited  the  Vandals,  a  barba- 
rous people  in  Poland,  about  the  Vistula,  and  taught 
them  the  way  of  salvation.  He  sent  pastors  to  distant 
nations,  and  was  a  shining  exemplar  of  piety  and  be- 
neficence. He  died  in  lOlS.f 

Adolvard,  bishop  of  Verden,  who,  as  we  have 
mentioned,  recommended  Adeldagus  to  the  patronage 
of  Otho  I.  was  himself  an  excellent  pattern  of  piety 
and  probity.  He  discharged  the  office  of  a  faithful  pas- 
tor in  his  diocese,  and  took  pains  to  instruct  the  igno- 
rant Vandals  in  the  way  of  salvation.  J 

Of  Adalbert,  archbishop  of  Prague,  I  can  find  no 
more  than  has  been  already  mentioned;  though  his 
labours  deserve  to  have  been  minutely  recorded. 

That  the  true  doctrines  of  the  gospel,  and  some  true 
knowledge  of  their  experimental  use  and  power,  were 
not  lost  in  the  church  altogether,  the  following  quota- 
tions will  abundantly  evince;  though  of  the  authors 
themselves  no  particular  account  can  be  given,  nor  is 
it  very  clear  at  what  exact  period  of  time  some  of  them 
lived:  the  passages  selected  from  them  will  serve, 
however,  to  show  the  religious  taste  of  the  times. 

Ansbert,  speaking  of  the  effect  of  the  divine  word, 
observes;  "  There  is  no  doubt,  but  by  the  holy  preach- 
ing of  the  word  the  faithful  receive  the  grace  of  the 
holy  Spirit,  the  Lord  bearing  witness  to  this,  the  words 
that  I  speak  unto  you,  they  are  spirit,  and  they  are 
life."'^ 

*  Cent.  Magd.  cent.  x.  vol.  iii.        f  Id.  \  Id. 

§  John,  vi.  63.  Cent.  Magd.  vol.  iii.  p.  18. 


265 

The  value  of  the  inward  teaching  of  the  holy  Spirit, 
has  been  frequently  attested  in  these  memoirs,  and  in 
a  language  very  similar  to  the  following  passage  of 
Smaragdus  on  the  same  subject.  "  Our  sense  is  re- 
newed by  the  exercises  of  wisdom,  meditation  on  the 
word  of  God,  and  the  understanding  of  his  statutes; 
and  the  more  proficiency  any  person  daily  makes  by 
reading,  and  the  deeper  hold  the  truth  has  upon  his 
understanding,  the  more  the  new  man  grows  day  by 
day.  Let  no  man  attribute  to  the  teacher,  that  he 
understands  from  his  mouth;  for  unless  there  be  an 
INTERNAL  TEACHER,  the  extcmal  one  labours  in 
vain.  The  Jews  heard  Christ  preach  in  one  manner, 
the  apostles  in  another;  those  to  judgment,  these  to 
salvation:  for  the  Spirit  taught  these  in  the  heart,  what 
those  heard  outwardly  by  the  ear.  Unless  the  Lord 
shine  into  the  heart  of  the  hearer,  the  teacher  labours 
in  darkness.  For  the  faith  of  the  nations  comes  not 
by  the  wisdom  of  the  composition,  but  by  the  gift  of 
divine  vocation."* 

"  If  thou  wouldst  have  thy  sons  obedient  to  thee," 
says  Theophylact,  "  instruct  them  in  the  divine  word. 
Say  not,  that  it  belongs  only  to  persons  professionally 
religious  to  read  the  scriptures.  It  is  the  duty  of  every 
christian,  particularly  of  those,  who  are  in  the  midst 
of  secular  employments:  they  need  the  greatest  help, 
as  they  live  in  a  tempest.  It  is  for  thy  own  interest, 
that  thy  children  be  well  versed  in  scripture;  thence 
they  will  learn  to  reverence  their  parents."  Let  mo- 
dern sceptics  and  infidels  attend  to  the  voice  of  a 
writer  who  lived  in  a  dark  age  of  the  church;  for  he 
was  a  luminary  of  these  dark  ages.  He  most  probably 
lived  in  the  eleventh  century;  and  the  plain  precepts 
just  mentioned  deserve,  from  gentlemen  of  the  eigh- 
teenth century,  more  serious  attention  than  whole 
volumes  of  metaphysical  subtilities,  or  political  specu- 
lations. 

Speaking  of  the  state  of  man  after  the  fall,  Theo- 


Id. 


266 

phylact  observes:  "  Some  are  found,  indeed,  to  be 
good  tempered  and  benign  by  nature,  none  by  exer- 
cise and  meditation.  And  though  some  be  reckoned 
good  men,  they  adulterate  every  action  by  vainglory. 
But  he,  whose  goodness  centres  in  his  own  glory,  not 
in  goodness  itself,  whenever  an  opportunity  oifers, 
will  indulge  evil  lusts.  For,  if  among  us  christians,  the 
threatening  of  hell,  every  advantage  of  study,  and  the 
lives  of  innumerable  saints,  can  scarce  preserve  men 
in  the  practice  of  virtue,  how  can  the  nugatory  tales 
of  the  gentiles  teach  them  virtue?  It  will  not  be  matter 
of  surprise,  indeed,  if  they  cbnfirm  them  in  wicked- 
ness."* 

With  such  discrimination  of  ideas  did  this  writer 
distinguish  between  the  state  of  nature  and  of  grace! 
Let  us  hear  him  express  his  thoughts  on  the  gospel, 
as  opposed  to  the  law.  '^  The  law,  if  it  detect  any 
man  sinning,  even  in  a  circumstance  that  may  appear 
trifling,  as  in  gathering  sticks  on  the  sabbath  day,t 
condemns  him  to  death:  but  the  holy  Spirit,  receiving 
those,  who  have  committed  innumerable  offences,  in 
the  laver  of  baptismal  regeneration  justifies  them,  and 
quickens  those,  who  are  dead  in  sin. — The  righte- 
Ousness  of  God  preserves  us;  not  our  own  righte- 
ousness: for  what  righteousness  can  we  have,  who 
are  altogether  corrupt?  l>ut  God  hath  justified  us,  not 
by  our  works,  but  by  faith,  which  grace  ought  to 
grow  more  and  more  consummate;  as  the  apostle  said 
unto  the  Lord,  increase  our  faith.J  Truly  it  is  not 
enough  to  have  once  believed.  For,  as  the  benefits  of 
divine  grace  exceed  human  thoughts,  there  is  abso- 
lute need  of  faith  to  conceive  and  apprehend  them. 
The  righteousness  of  God  is  by  faith.  This  needs  not 
our  labours  and  works;  but  the  whole  belongs  to  the 
grace  of  God.  Moses  asserts  that  man  is  justified  by 
works.  §  But  none  are  found  to  fulfil  them.  Justifica- 
tion by  the  law  is  therefore  rendered  impossible.  This 

*  Cent.  Mae^d.  id.  p.  64.         f  Numbers,  xv.  32,  &c.         :j:  Luke,  xvii.  5. 

§  He  appears  to  mean  the  same  thing  which  St.  Paul  does,  by  the  ex- 
pressi-n,  •  Moses  describeth  the  rig-hteousness,  which  is  of  the  law,  that 
the  man,  which  doetli  those  things,  shall  live  by  them."  Rom.  x.  5. 


267 

is  the  righteousness  of  God,  when  a  man  is  justified 
by  grace,  so  that  no  blemish,  no  spot  is  found  in 
him."* 

"  Maxime  Teucrorum  ductor,  quo  sospite  nunquam 
Res  equidem  Trojae  victas  aut  regna  fatebor." 

So  speaks  Evander  to  Virgil's  hero.  With  great  pro- 
priety may  we  say  of  justification  by  Christ  through 
faith,  the  leading  doctrine  of  Christianity,  that  while 
its  existence  is  preserved  in  the  church,  the  power  of 
Christ's  kingdom  is  not  destroyed  in  the  world.  There, 
doubtless,  were  those  in  Theophylact's  time,  who 
knew  how  to  feed  on  the  doctrine  of  grace,  and  con- 
vert it  into  spiritual  nourishment.  This  writer,  it  should 
be  observed,  belonged  to  the  eastern  church,  of  which 
we  hear  very  little  in  the  dark  ages  before  us.  Serious 
and  humble  spirits,  therefore,  in  those  regions,  were 
not  left  without  a  light  shining  amidst  the  tenfold  ob- 
scurity of  the  times,  by  which  their  feet  might  be 
guided  in  the  paths  of  peace.  And  as  it  is  not  to  be 
supposed,  that  the  light  was  preserved  to  no  purpose, 
we  may  safely  conclude,  that  the  real  church  was  still 
in  existence  in  the  east. 

The  same  intelligent  writer  gives  us  an  illustration 
of  the  abundance  of  grace,  spoken  of  in  Rom.  v.  M^hich 
will  deserve  to  be  mentioned.  "  Suppose  a  person  is 
thrown  into  prison  with  his  wife  and  children,  because 
he  is  deep  in  debt,  and  then  should  be  not  only  freed 
from  the  prison  and  the  demands  of  the  law,  but  also 
receive  at  once  innumerable  talents,  be  introduced 
into  the  royal  palace,  be  presented  with  a  kingdom, 
and  accounted  worthy  of  the  same,  and  be  reckoned 
a  son  of  the  king;  This  is  the  abundance  of  grace."! 

Hear  how  experimentally  he  speaks  of  christian 
faith.  "  Faith  is  looked  on  as  contemptible,  because 
of  the  foolishness  of  preaching — He,  who  believes  witia 
great  affection,  extends  his  heart  to  God.  He  is  united 
to  him.  His  heart,  inflamed,  conceives  a  strong  assti' 

*  Cent.  Magd.  Id.  p.  78.  +  Id.  81 


268 

ranee,  that  it  shall  gain  its  desire.  We  all  know  this 
by  experience,  because  Christ  hath  said.  Whatever  ye 
ask  in  prayer,  believing  ye  shall  receive.  He  who  be- 
lieves, gives  himself  wholly  to  God;  he  speaks  to  him 
with  tears ;  and  in  prayer  holds  the  Lord,  as  it  were, 
by  the  feet.  O  rich  advantage,  exceeding  human 
thought,  that  every  one  who  believes  on  him,  gains  two 
things,  one,  that  he  does  not  perish,  the  other,  that  he 
has  eternal  life.  The  faith  of  Christ  is  an  holy  work, 
and  sanctifies  its  possessor.  It  is  a  guide  to  every  good 
work:  for  works  without  faith  are  dead,  and  so  is  faith 
without  works.  There  needs  not  the  circuitous  and 
afflictive  course  of  legal  works,  but  God  justifies  in  a 
summary  way,  those  who  believe.  For,  if  thou  con- 
fess with  thy  mouth  the  Lord  Jesus,  and  believe  in 
thine  heart,  that  God  hath  raised  him  from  the  dead, 
thou  shalt  be  saved*  Faith  is  a  shield,  not  vain  so- 
phisms, not  fallacious  argumentations.  These  hinder 
the  soul,  faith  protects  it.  Know,  that  thou  must  not 
exact  a  reason  from  God;  but  however  he  dispose  of 
thee,  thou  must  believe  him."t 

It  would  have  been  wonderful  indeed,  if  the  Gre- 
cian  divine  before  us,  had  been  exempt  from  the  errors 
relating  to  the  will,  which  for  ages  of  greater  light 
had  pervaded  the  eastern  church.  He  appears  to  have 
mixed  the  powers  of  grace  and  nature  in  the  confused 
manner  of  Chrysostom;  but  it  is  not  necessary  to  quote 
any  passage  for  this  purpose.  A  specimen  of  his  wri- 
tings on  this  point  may  be  seen  in  the  139th  page, 
vof.  3.  Magd. 

Giselbert,  or  a  theologian,  whose  works  bear  that 
name,  and  who  lived  in  or  near  this  century,  speaks 
of  justification  in  the  usual  manner  of  Augustine,  and 
of  the  later  Latin  fathers,  and  with  the  same  valuable 
tincture  of  divine  truth.  "  When  I  speak  of  the  right- 
eousness of  God,"  says  he,  "  I  do  not  mean  his  ab- 
solute righteousness,  but  that,  with  which  he  clothes 
man,  when  he  justifies  the  ungodly.  The  law  and  the 

*  Rom.  X.  t  8.1 


269 

prophets  bear  witness  to  this  righteousness.  The  law, 
indeed,  by  commanding  and  threatening,  and  yet  jus- 
tifying no  man,  sufficiently  indicates,  that  man  is  jus- 
tified by  the  gift  of  God,  through  the  quickening  spirit. 
From  God,  beyond  question,  arises  the  beginning  of 
salvation,  never  from  us,  nor  with  us.  But  the  consent 
and  the  work,  though  not  originating  from  us,  is, 
however,  not  without  us."*  Of  the  work  of  grace  and 
of  the  duty  of  man  in  sanctification,  he  seems  to  speak 
with  evangelical  accuracy.  The  only  error  is,  that  by 
speaking  of  justification,  as  effected  through  the  quick- 
ening Spirit,  he  seems  to  confound  justification  Avith 
sanctification.  A  common  mistake!  The  great  lumi- 
nary of  Africa  fell  into  it;  and,  by  his  authority,  gave 
it  a  sanction  throughout  the  western  church.  In  ano- 
ther passage,  Giseibert,  by  speaking  of  a  variety  of 
justifications,  which  he  multiplies  to  seven,  and,  with 
equal  reason,  he  might  have  multiplied  them  to  seventy 
times  seven, J  tarnishes  the  precious  doctrine  of  salva- 
tion exceedingly,  and  leaves  no  distinct  ground  for  the 
afflicted  conscience,  to  seek  peace  with  God.  "  The 
first  remission  is  baptism;  the  seventh  is  by  tears  and 
confession."  Whenever  men  are  brought  to  feel  what 
sin  is,  what  their  own  sin  is,  they  should  learn  the 
scripture  doctrine  of  justification,  which  is,  from  first 
to  last,  by  grace  alone  through  Jesus  Christ,  and  by 
the  instrumentality  of  faith.  Careless  and  selfrighteous 
spirits  may  trifle  at  their  ease  with  other  views  of  doc- 
trine; the  contrite  spirit  cannot  rest  but  in  Christ 
alone;  and  by  the  truth,  as  it  is  in  Jesus,  the  conscience 
finds  peace,  and  the  heart  is  set  at  liberty  to  serve  God 
in  love.  However,  a  serious  investigation  of  the  doc- 
trine of  christian  righteousness,  argues  some  just  con- 
cern for  the  salvation  of  the  soul,  and  often  leads 
to  the  most  salutary  consequences.  The  worst  state 
of  the  church  is,  when  a  deep  silence  is  preserved 
concerning  justification  in  any  mode  or  sense,  how- 
ever men's  minds  may  be  amused  or  agitated  Avith  a 


•  78.  t  Id.  139 

Vol.  tit.  35 


270 

variety  of  religious  speculations  or  controversies.  In 
thai  case,  religion  lives  only  in  the  brain,  and  has  for- 
saken the  conscience  altogether. 

But  no  writer  of  this  age  pierces  more  deeply  into 
the  spirit  of  divine  truth,  than  the  monk  Radulph,  who 
certainly  flourished  about  the  tenth  century, *^  though 
very  little  is  known  concerning  him.  "  Since,"  says 
he,  "  in  every  good  work,  divine  mercy  prevents  us, 
if  a  man  seek  what  recompence  he  may  render  to  the 
Lord,  he  finds  it  not,  unless  he  receive  it  also  from 
God.  Divine  grace,  therefore,  obliges  us  by  its  bene- 
ficence, and  helps  us  when  thus  obliged,  by  many 
repetitions  of  the  same  grace,  that  we  may  not  remain 
ungrateful."  "  In  us  all,  who  are  by  nature  children 
of  wrath,  and  born  under  the  yoke  of  diabolical  sla- 
very, it  is  not  expected,  who  will  choose  to  come  out 
of  the  mass,  but  whom  celestial  clemency  will  deliver. 
For  it  is  not  of  him  that  willeth,  nor  of  him  that  run- 
neth, but  of  God  that  showeth  mercy,  "f  And  he  adds 
more  to  the  same  purport,  speaking  very  fully  con- 
cerning the  "  election  of  grace, "J  and  connecting  that 
doctrine  with  practical  views  of  humility  and  grati- 
tude. 

Nilus,  of  Greek  extraction,  was  born  in  the  year 
910,  in  Calabria.  He  was  allowed  to  have  lived  in  a 
state  of  eminent  sanctity,  though  a  rnarried  man;  a 
singular  circumstance  for  those  times.  After  his  wife's 
death  he  retired  about  the  year  940  into  a  convent.  In 
976,  the  bishop  of  Calabria,  and  a  lord  of  the  territory, 
named  Leo,  with  many  priests  went  to  visit  him,  ra- 
ther with  a  view  to  try  his  skill  than  to  derive  any  be- 
nefit from  his  instructions.  Nilus  treated  them  civilly, 
prayed  with  them  a  short  time,  and  then  put  into  Leo's 
hands  a  book  of  maxims  concerning  the  small  num- 
ber of  the  SAVED.  The  company  expressed  their  dis- 
satisfaction at  the  harshness  of  the  doctrine.  This  in- 
duced Nilus  to  undertake  the  proof  of  it  from  the  wri- 
tings of  the  fathers,  from  St.  Paul,  and  from  the  gos- 

*  Id.  363.  t  Id.  65.  i  Rom.  xi.  5. 


271 

pels.  "  These  maxims  seem  terrible,"  said  he,  "  but 
the  only  reason  why  they  do  so,  is  this,  they  condemn 
your  practice.  Unless  you  be  sincerely  holy,  you  can- 
not escape  everlasting  torments."'  They  sighed,  and 
they  trembled.  He  had,  however,  said  no  more  than 
w)iat  the  whole  new  testament  inculcates  continuall3^ 
And  the  conduct  of  these  men,  and  of  men  like  these, 
who  abound  in  every  age,  shovvs  how  little  the  scrip- 
ture is  really  believed.  One  of  the  company,  whom 
Nilus  knew  to  live  in  open  sin,  asked  the  monk,  whe- 
ther Solomon  was  saved  or  not?  What  is  it  to  us,  an- 
swered the  upright  Nilus,  whether  Solomon  be  saved 
or  not?  It  is  sufficient  for  you  to  know,  that  Christ  pro- 
nounces damnation  against  all  workers  of  iniquity.  I 
should  think  it  a  more  interesting  object  of  inquiry  for 
you,  to  consider  whether  you  shall  be  saved  or  not.  As 
for  Solomon,  the  scripture  mentions  not  his  repentance, 
as  it  does  that  of  Manasseh.  What  effect  his  discourse 
had  upon  his  visitors  we  know  not.  But  it  deserved  to 
be  recorded,  both  to  show  how  dangerously  men  ex- 
ercise their  ingenuity  in  furnishing  themselves  with 
excuses  to  live  in  sin,  and  also  to  give  a  sample  of 
plaindealing  in  those,  who  undertake  to  instruct  man- 
kind. 

Euphraxus,  an  haughty  nobleman,  was  governor  of 
Calabria,  under  the  Greek  emperor.  For  the  eastern 
part  of  Italy  remained  subject  to  that  monarch  a  con- 
siderable time  after  the  establishment  of  the  popedom. 
Euphraxus  sought  every  occasion  of  mortifying  Ni- 
lus, because  he  gave  him  no  presents,  as  other  abbots 
did.  Falling  sick,  however,  he  sent  for  him,  and  beg- 
ged of  him  the  monastic  habit.  Your  baptismal  vows 
suffice,  said  Nilus.  Repentance  requires  no  new  vows, 
but  a  change  of  heart  and  life.  This  sentiment  of  Ni- 
lus was  somewhat  extraordinary  for  the  tenth  century. 
But  Euphraxus,  who  sought  to  pacify  his  conscience  -^ 

at  the  easiest  rate,  with  miserable  ignorance  impor-  J 

tuned  the  abbot  to  invest  him  with  the  habit,  to  which  1, 

he  at  length  consented.   Euphraxus  died  three  days 
after.  Infidelity  may  smile,  but  if  ever  the  conscience 


i272 

become  thoroughly  alarmed,  even  in  the  most  harden- 
ed sceptics  and  sensualists,  it  will  quickly  find,  that 
the  best  of  our  moral  works  are  no  covering  to  the 
soul  from  the  justice  of  an  holy  God;  and  therefore, 
imless  the  real  doctrine  of  salvation  be  understood, 
men  in  their  distress  will  betake  themselves  to  such 
paltry  refuges  as  this  of  Euphraxus.  A  licentious 
Charles  II.  having  sedulous  recourse  to  popish  cere- 
monies, in  his  dying  hours,  is  not  a  singular  case. 
Others,  who,  like  him  in  health,  despised  the  doctrines 
of  grace,  have  done  the  same. 

Nilus  refused  the  offer  of  the  bishopric  of  Capua: 
nor  could  the  most  flattering  invitations  induce  him  to 
go  to  Constantinople.  He  seemed  likely  to  enjoy  tran- 
quil retirement  to  his  death,  in  his  convent.  But  pro- 
vidence ordered  it  otherwise.  The  Saracens  invaded 
Calabria,  of  which  they  afterwards  gained  possession. 
Nilus  was  driven  from  his  home,  and  lived  a  long  time 
in  other  convents.  Otho  III.  upon  a  visit,  pressed  him 
to  accept  some  situation  in  his  dominions,  wherever 
he  should  choose.  Nilus  thanked  the  emperor,  but 
said,  our  divine  Master  will  «ot  forsake  my  brethren, 
if  they  be  true  monks,  after  I  am  gone.  Ask  what  you 
please,  said  the  emperor,  I  will  give  it  you  with  plea- 
sure. "  The  only  thing,  1  ask  you,"  replied  Nilus,  "  is, 
that  you  would  save  your  soul.  For  you  must  give 
an  account  to  God,  as  well  as  other  men."  This  good 
abbot  died  at  Tusculum,  in  an  extreme  old  age  in  the 
year  1005.* 

Such  was  the  light,  scattered  here  and  there,  in  the 
darkness  of  the  times,  by  which  the  God  of  grace  and 
mercy  called,  nourished,  and  sanctified  his  church,  and 
preserved  to  himself  a  godly  seed  in  the  earth,  who 
should  serve  him  in  the  gospel  of  his  Son,  and  prevent 
the  cruel  tyranny  of  the  prince  of  darkness  from  com- 
pletely overspreading  the  world. 

"  A.  Butler, 


CENTURY  XI. 

'*  CHAP.  I. 

A  Ge?ieral  View  of  the  Church  in  this  Century. 

1  HE  genuine  church  of  Christ  under  the  protec- 
tion and  influence  of  her  supreme  Head,  existed  in- 
deed in  this  century;  but  it  would  be  in  vain  to  at- 
tempt a  regular  and  systematical  history  of  her  pro- 
gress. Some  particular  circumstances  in  diflferent  parts 
of  the  christian  world,  some  pious  and  successful  en- 
deavours to  propagate  the  gospel  in  pagan  countries, 
some  degrees  of  opposition  to  the  reigning  idolatry 
and  superstition,  and  the  writings  of  some  pious  and 
evangelical  theologians,  demonstrated,  that  the  Spirit 
of  God  had  not  forsaken  the  earth  altogether. 

Indeed,  if  this  century  may  be  said,  in  some  de- 
gree, to  have  excelled  the  last,  the  superiority  must 
be  ascribed  to  the  improvements  of  learning.  For 
the  arts  and  sciences  revived,  in  a  measure,  among 
the  clergy  and  the  monks,  though  not  cultivated*  by 
any  other  set  of  men.  I  speak  in  regard  to  the  western 
church;  for  the  eastern,  enfeebled  and  oppressed  by 
the  Turks  and  Saracens  from  without,  and  by  civil 
broils  and  factions  from  within,  with  difficulty  pre- 
served that  degree  of  knowledge,  which  in  those  de- 
generate days  still  remained  among  the  Greeks.  I 
scarce  find  any  vestiges  of  christian  piety  among  the 
eastern  christians  at  this  time:  indeed,  the  attentive 
reader  must  have  observed  how  barren  of  that  sort  of 
events,  which  relate  to  christian  history,  Asia  in  ge- 

•  Mosheim,  cent.  xi.  479 


274 

neral  had  been  for  some  ages.  So  fatal  was  the  influ- 
ence of  mahometanism,  and  so  judicially  hardened 
were  the  descendents  of  those,  who  first  had  honoured 
the  religion  of  Jesus.  Constantinople  was  still  called  a 
christian  city,  and,  in  learning  and  politeness,  was  su- 
perior to  any  part  of  the  west:  but  it  is  in  Europe  we. 
are  to  look  for  the  emanations  of  piety.  France  and 
Italy  excelled  particularly  in  the  cultivation  of  learn- 
ing. Robert  king  of  France,  the  son  and  successor  of 
Hugh  Capet,  who  began  to  reign  in  996,  and  died  in 
1031,  distinguished  himself  as  the  friend  of  science. 
Even  the  ferocious  Normans,  whose  wars  and  devas- 
tations were  so  terrible  in  Italy,  France,  and  England, 
after  they  had  established  their  respective  govern- 
ments, applied  themselves  to  the  cultivation  of  the 
human  mind,  and  diffused  some  light  among  the  peo- 
ple whom  they  had  subdued.  This  was  particularly 
the  case  with  the  southern  parts  of  Italy,  and  with  our 
own  island.' William  the  conqueror,  savage  and  im- 
perious as  he  was,  restored  letters  to  England,  which, 
amidst  the  Danish  depredations,  had  been  almost  ex- 
tinguished. And  we  shall  see,  at  least,  one  learned 
foreigner  at  the  head  of  the  English  church,  who, 
uniting  piety  to  knowledge,  was  not  unworthy  of  the 
christian  name.  The  learning  itself,  indeed,  was  not 
philosophical,  like  that  of  modern  times,  but  consisted 
chiefly  of  grammar,  rhetoric,  and  logic.  It  was,  how- 
ever, connected  with  divinity:  the  scriptures  were  held 
in  high  reputation:  the  hardy  presumption  of  subtile 
theory,  and  the  supercilious  negligence  concerning 
piety  and  public  worship  were  then  unknown  among 
men.  In  such  circumstances,  to  have  learned  to  read, 
to  have  attended  to  the  meaning  of  words,  and  to  have 
employed  the  powers  of  the  human  mind,  in  any  man- 
ner, on  the  sacred  writings,  were  blessings  to  mankind. 
In  Italy  and  France  also  there  were  some  witnesses  of 
divine  truth,  who  opposed  the  abominations  of  the 
popedom. 

The  great  scenes  of  political  contention  in  this  age, 
were,  in  the  east,  the  crusades;  in  the  west,  the  dis- 


275 

putes  between  the  popes  and  the  emperors.  Civil,  and 
even,  what  is  called,  ecclesiastical  history,  is  full  of 
these  subjects.  To  my  province  they  bear  scarcely 
any  relation.  The  former  were  attended  with  dreadful 
evils,  and  much  augmented  the  influence  of  that  per- 
nicious superstition,  which  commutes  for  offences, 
and  taught  men  to  indulge  themselves  in  the  worst  of 
vices,  through  the  hope  of  finding  their  way  to  heaven 
by  the  merit  of  a  crusade.  I  shall,  however,  examine 
a  little,  hereafter,  the  grounds  of  the  justice  or  injus- 
tice of  these  expeditions,  because  the  character  of 
some  pious  men  of  great  eminence,  is  connected  with 
the  question.  The  disputes  between  the  popes  and 
the  emperors,  seem  intirely  barren  of  instructive  inci- 
dents in  religion.  They  confirm,  nevertheless,  the 
christian  in  the  belief  of  those  scriptures,  which  so 
accurately  mark  the  character  of  antichrist.*  Gre- 
gory VII.  commonly  called  Hildebrand,  began  the 
scheme,  which  fifty  years  after  was  completely  accom- 
plished, namely,  of  rescuing  the  election  of  the  popes 
from  the  emperors,  and  of  fixing  it  intirely  in  the  col- 
lege of  cardinals,  in  which  it  still  continues.  The  ce- 
libacy of  the  clergy,  and  the  doctrine  of  transubstan- 
tiation,  were  established  by  the  council  of  Placentia  in 
1095.  Popery,  in  short,  reigned  triumphant,  and  no 
public  profession  of  the  gospel,  which  professed  in- 
dependence of  its  domination,  could  be  endured  in 
Europe. 

It  will  be  proper  to  close  this  general  view  of  the 
century  with  a  circumstance  or  two  concerning  Africa. 
That  once  fruitful  mother  of  the  churches,  who  glorifed 
in  her  Cyprians  and  Augustines,  had  now  only  two 
bishops.  The  Saracens,  masters  of  the  country,  per- 
secuted the  christians  there  with  great  bitterness;  yet 
so  infatuated  were  the  African  christians  with  the  love 
of  sin,  that  they  quarrelled  among  themselves,  and 
betrayed  their  bishop  Cyriacus  into  the  hands  of  the  in- 
fidels, who  much  abused  him.  Gregory  VII.  wrote  to 

*  See  particularly  2  Thess.  ii.  1  Tim.  !v 


276 

the  good  bishop  to  comfort  him  in  his  distresses.  A 
friendly  letter,  aboundnig  with  truly  christian  senti- 
ments, even  from  so  imperious  and  unchristian  a  cha- 
racter as  Hildebrand's,  might  convey  consolation  to 
the  mind  of  Cyriacus.*  Piety,  united  with  distress, 
stands  aloof  from  politics,  and  thankfully  embraces 
truth  as  sent  from  her  God,  whatever  be  the  instru- 
ment. 

He,  who  seriously  reflects  in  what  glory  Asia  and 
Africa  once  shone  before  God  and  his  Christ;  how 
dark  and  idolatrous,  and,  at  the  same  time,  how  insen- 
sible of  their  spiritual  misery  die  inhabitants  of  those 
two  quarters  of  the  globe  were  in  this  century,  and 
continue  even  to  the  present  times,  will  see  with  what 
reverential  care  the  jewel  of  the  gospel  should  be 
cherished,  while  in  our  possession,  lest  we  not  only 
lose  our  own  souls,  but  entail  a  curse  on  ages  yet 
unborn. 


CHAP.  IL 

The  Opposition  made  to  the  Errors  of  Popery. 

T    * 

IN  the  year  1017,  certain  persons,  real  or  supposed 

heretics,  were  discovered  in  France,  who  were  said 
to  hold,  "  that  they  did  not  believe,  that  Jesus  Christ 
was  born  of  the  virgin  Mary;  that  he  died  for  the 
satygLtion  of  mankind;  that  he  was  buried  and  rose 
again;  that  baptism  procured  the  remission  of  sins; 
that  the  consecration  by  the  priest  constituted  the  sa- 
crament of  the  body  and  blood  of  Christ;  and  that  it 
was  profitable  to  pray  to  the  martyrs  and  confessors.'' 
Other  practical  matters  of  a  detestable  nature  were  as- 
cribed to  them.  On  their  refusal  to  recant  before  a 
council  held  at  Orleans,  thirteen  of  them  were  burnt 

*  Du  Pin.  1st  edit.  vol.  iv.  cent.  xi.  p.  55- 


277 

alive.*  It  is  not  easy  to  say,  what  was  the  true  cha- 
racter of  these  men.  It  is  certain,  that  they  opposed 
the  then  reigning  superstitions,  and  that  they  were 
willing  to  suffer  for  the  doctrines,  which  they  espous- 
ed. The  crimes  alleged  are  so  monstrous,  and  incredi- 
ble, as  to  render  the  charges  adduced  against  their 
doctrines  very  suspicious.  That  they,  however,  were 
truly  evangelical  christians,  is  what  I  dare  not  affirm. 

Some  time  after  there  appeared,  in  Flanders,  another 
sect,  which  was  condemned  in  a  synod  held  at  Arras, 
in  the  year  1025,  by  Gerard,  bishop  of  Cambray  and 
Arras.  They  had  come  from  Italy,  being  the  disci- 
ples of  Gundulphus,  who  taught  there  several  suppo- 
sed heretical  doctrines.  Gerard  himself,  in  a  letter, 
which  he  wrote  on  the  subject,  observes,  that  the  dis- 
ciples of  Gundulphus  travelled  up  and  down  to  multi- 
ply converts,  and  that  they  had  withdrawn  many  from 
the  belief  of  the  real  presence  in  the  sacrament;  that 
they  owned  themselves  to  be  the  scholars  of  Gundul- 
phus, who  had  instructed  them  in  the  evangelical  and 
apostolical  doctrine.  "  This,"  said  they,  '*  is  our  doc- 
trine, to  renounce  the  world,  to  bridle  the  lusts  of  the 
flesh,  to  maintain  ourselves  by  the  labour  of  our  own 
hands,  to  do  violence  to  no  man,  to  love  the  brethren. 
Ifthisplanof  righteousness  be  observed,  there  is  no 
need  of  baptism;  if  it  be  neglected,  baptism  is^f  no 
avail."  They  particularly  objected  to  the  baptism  of 
infants,  because  they  were  altogether  incapable  of  un- 
derstanding or  confessing  the  truth.  They  denied  the 
real  presence  of  Christ's  body  in  the  Lord's  supper: 
they  rejected  the  consecration  of  churches:  they  op- 
posed various  reigning  superstitions,  particularly  the 
doctrine  of  purgatory  and  the  practices  connected  with 
it.  They  likewise  refused  to  worship  the  cross,  or  any 
images  whatever.  The  bishop  of  Arras,  having  examin- 
ed their  supposed  errors,  and,  in  his  own  opinion,  con- 
futed them,  drew  up  a  confession  of  faith,  contrary  to 
those  errors,  which  he  required  the  heretics  to  sign 

*  Du  Pin.  first  edit.  vol.  iv.  cent;  si.  p.  110, 

Vol.  Ill,  r-,6 


278 

As  they  did  not  well  understand  the  Latin  tongue,  he 
caused  the  confession  to  be  explained  to  them  in  the 
vulgar  tongue,  by  an  interpreter;  then,  according  to 
this  account,  they  approved  and  signed  the  instrument, 
and  were  dismissed  in  peace  by  the  bishop. 

It  is  very  difficult  to  judge  a  cause  by  hearing  only 
one  side,  and  that  side  prejudiced  to  an  extreme.  If  we 
are  tempted  to  look  on  the  doctrines  of  Gundulphus, 
in  a  favourable  light,  (whatever  we  may  think  of  the 
characters  of  these  his  timorous  disciples)  from  this 
short  narrative  of  his  enemies,  how  much  more  excel- 
lent might  they  appear,  if  we  had  his  writings  and  ser- 
mons? As  he  did  not  deny  the  use  of  the  Lord's  sup- 
per, but  only  the  doctrine  of  the  real  presence,  it  is  pro- 
bable that  he  held  baptism  also  in  a  similar  manner.  If, 
however,  he  absolutely  rejected  the  baptism  of  infants, 
the  people,  who  call  themselves  baptists  at  this  day 
may  seem  with  justice  to  claim  Gundulphus  as  belong- 
ing to  their  sect.  The  nature  of  mankind,  ever  prone 
to  run  from  one  extreme  to  another,  will  easily  account 
for  this  circumstance  of  the  rejection  of  infant  baptism. 
The  practice  had  long  been  sullied  with  superstitious 
fooleries:  the  transition  to  its  total  rejection  was  natu- 
ral. Yet  we  shall  afterwards  see  reason  to  doubt,  whe- 
ther ^lis  people  did  deny  the  absolute  lawfulness  of 
infan||ibaptism,  when  we  come  to  consider  the  religious 
views  of  the  waldenses;  for  the  probability  is  strong, 
that  generally  those  called  heretics  in  France,  Flan- 
ders, and  Italy,  in  these  middle  ages,  were  similar  to 
each  other  in  doctrines  and  customs.  We  have  seen, 
however,  a  noble  testimony  to  the  existence  of  evan- 
gelical truth,  a  body  of  men  in  Italy  before  the  year 
10^6,  in  doctrine  and  practice  directly  opposite  to  the 
church  of  Rome,  spreading  purity  of  christian  worship 
through  the  world  with  all  their  might,  and  distinguish- 
ing themselves  from  the  general  mass  of  christians  in 
the  west.  I  cannot  believe  that  they  held  marriage  as 
unlawful,  though  they  were  charged  with  this  sentiment 
by  their  enemies:  and,  notwithstanding  some  errors 
and  blemishes,  it  is  not  to  be  doubted,  but  that,  on  the 


279 

whole  they  were  of  the  true  church  of  Christ.  Faith- 
fully to  withstand  idolatry  and  the  reigning  corruptions, 
required  a  light  and  strength  far  above  nature,  and  I 
have  only  to  regret,  that,  after  a  careful  search,  this  is 
all  the  account  I  can  find  of  them. 

Not  long  after  the  supposed  heretics  of  Orleans, 
arose  the  famous  Berengarius  of  Tours,  who  wrote 
against  the  doctrine  of  the  real  presence.  His  writings 
called  forth  the  most  learned  romanists  to  defend  the 
tenets  of  Paschasius  Radbertus;  and  Berengarius  was 
compelled  to  renounce,  and  to  burn  his  writings.  But 
he  recanted  a^ain  and  again,  and  returned,  says  a  con- 
temporary popish  author,*  like  the  dog  to  his  vomit. 
Whether  he  died  in  the  same  sentiments,  is  strongly 
contested  between  the  papists  and  the  protestants.  The 
former  quote  William  of  Malmesbury,  who  says,  he 
died  trembling.  "  This  day,"  said  he,  "  will  my  Lord 
Jesus  Christ  appear  to  me,  either  to  glory  by  his  mer- 
cy through  my  repentance,  or,  as  I  fear,  on  the  ac- 
count of  others,  to  my  punishment."  The  sentiment, 
whether  founded  on  fact  or  not,  is  strongly  expressive 
of  the  genius  of  the  then  reigning  religion,  which  ex- 
cluded the  spirit  of  adoption,  and  filial  confidence  in 
God  through  Christ,  and  supported  the  spirit  of  |pDnd- 
age  and  anxiety.  And  the  effect  was,  in  this  cas4f  pro- 
portional to  the  cause.  Men  had  lost  the  christian  ar- 
ticle of  justification  through  faith  alone;  and,  believing 
salvation  to  be  suspended  on  the  merit  of  human 
works,  they  found  it  impossible  for  Berengarius,  even 
on  the  most  sincere  repentance  for  his  supposed  here- 
sy, to  countervail  the  mischiefs  which  he  had  done  by 
misleading  others.  Whether  then  we  suppose  the  con- 
fession of  Berengarius  to  be  a  forgery,  or  a  real  fact,  it 
was  delivered  in  the  spirit  of  those,  who  weighed  hu- 
man merits  and  demerits  in  opposite  scales,  and  found 

*  Bertold  presbyter  of  Constantia.  See  bishop  Newton's  3d  vol.  of  the 
prophecies,  p.  164.  I  have  examined  Du  Pin,  Natalis  Alexander,  A  But- 
ler, and  Mosheim  on  this  subject,  and  find  tlie  whole  mass  of  informa- 
tion so  very  uninteresting,  though  prolix  beyond  measure,  that  the  few  sen- 
tences in  the  text  seem  to  me  all  that  is  needful  to  be  observed  on  the 
Berengarian  controversy. 


28b 

no  other  method  of  determinmg  the  question  ot  a  man's 
salvation  or  destruction,  than  that,  which  should  result 
from  the  comparison  of  his  good  actions  with  his 
crimes.  How  impossible  is  it  to  give  solid  peace  of 
conscience  to  a  sinful  creature  by  such  a  procedure! 
Joy,  and  love,  and  cheerful  activity  in  the  christian  life 
can  have  no  existence  on  such  a  plan:  but  such  was 
the  general  spirit  of  the  religion  of  the  times  we  are 
reviewing.  It  is  not  easy  to  decide  whether  the  papists 
or  the  protestants  were  in  the  right,  in  the  deter- 
mination of  the  question,  In  what  sentiments  did  Be- 
rengarius  die?  The  former  have  the  advantage  of  posi- 
tive testimony  in  their  favour.  The  question  is,  how- 
ever, perfectly  immaterial.  The  doctrine  of  the  real 
presence  depends  not  on  the  character  of  Berengarius 
for  its  decision.  I  know  no  marks  of  his  christian  piety; 
and  his  repeated  dissimulations  render  him  no  honour 
to  either  party.  It  is,  however,  of  some  moment  to  ob- 
serve, that  he  was  the  instrument  of  calling  forth  a  de- 
gree of  salutary  opposition  to  the  errors  of  the  times. 
He  called  the  church  of  Rome  a  church  of  malignants, 
the  council  of  vanity,  and  the  seat  of  Satan.  And  he 
corrupted,  say  some  old  historians,  almost  all  the 
French,  Italians,  and  English,  with  his  depravities. 
The  Expressions  are  much  too  strong;  but,  no  doubt, 
a  salutary  check  was  given  to  the  growing  supersti- 
tions: the  opposition  to  the  popedom,  though  it  did  not 
lay  hold  of  the  central  truths  of  the  gospel,  might  yet 
pave  the  way  for  still  more  eJBTective  exertions;  and 
served  at  least  to  inform  mankind,  that  the  court  of 
Rome  was  not  infallible. 


-s  281 

CHAP.  III. 

The  Propagation  of  the  Gospel  in  this  Century. 

1  HE*  work  of  christian  piety,  which  had  been  suc- 
cessfully carried  on  in  Hungary,  was  now  crowned 
with  still  greater  prosperity.  Stephen  the  king,  who 
had  been  baptized  by  Adalbert  bishop  of  Prague,  and 
who  began  to  reign  in  the  year  997,  showed  himself  a 
zealous  patron  of  the  gospel.  Under  his  auspices,  As- 
tricus  came  into  Hungary,  opened  a  school,  and  edu- 
cated ministers,  while  Boniface,  one  of  his  disciples, 
preached  the  word  in  Lower  Hungary.  The  zeal  of 
Stephen,  indeed,  was  much  stimulated  by  his  pious 
queen  Gisla,  daughter  of  the  emperor  Henry  H.   He 
often  accompanied  the  preachers,  and  pathetically  ex- 
horted his  subjects.  He  suppressed  barbarous  customs, 
and  restrained  blasphemy,  theft,  adultery,  and  murder. 
His  kindness  to  the  poor,  and,  indeed,  his  whole  mo- 
ral conduct  was  admirable.  His  excellent  code  of  laws 
are  to  this  day  the  basis  of  the  laws  of  Hungary.  It  is 
inscribed  to  his  son  Emeric,  whom  he  exhorts  to  cul- 
tivate sincere  huinility,  the  true  glory  of  a  king.  He 
forbids  in  it  all  impiety,  the  violation  of  Sunday  du- 
ties, and  irreverent  behaviour  in  the  house  of  God. 
This  monarch  defeated  the   prince  of  Transilvania, 
who  had  invaded  his  dominions,  and  took  him  pri- 
soner; but  restored  him  to  liberty,  on  condition  that 
he  should  allow  the  gospel  to  be  preached  to  the  Tran- 
silvanians,  without  molestation.    Stephen  was  a  pros- 
perous monarch,  but  found  afflictions  at  home  in  the 
loss  of  all  his  children.    His  mind  was,  however,  im- 
proved in  divine  things  by  his  sufferings.  He  laboured 
three  years  under  a  complication  of  diseases,  and  died 
in  the  year  103 8. f    He  had  lived  to  see  all  Hungary 
become  externally  christian,  though  Christianity  ex- 

*  Cent.  Magd.  cent.  xi.  t  Alban  Butler- 


282 

isted  there,  adulterated,  or  clouded  at  least  by  papal 
domination,  and  by  the  fashionable  superstitions. 

Gerard,  a  Venetian,  had  been  much  employed  by 
king  Stephen,  as  bishop  of  Choriad,  a  diocese  of  which 
two  thirds  of  the  inhabitants  were  idolaters.  In  less 
than  a  year,  they,  in  general,  had  received  the  forms  of 
Christianity  from  the  pious  labours  of  Gerard.  The 
power  of  Stephen  had  seconded  the  views  of  the  bi- 
shop; but  the  prospect  changed  on  the  king's  decease. 
His  nephew  and  successor  Peter,  persecuted  Gerard : 
he  was,  however,  expelled  by  his  subjects  in  the  year 
1042,  and  Abas,  a  nobleman,  was  made  king  of  Hun- 
gary, who  being  slain  after  two  years,  Peter  was  re- 
called, but  was  once  more  banished.  Andrew,  the  son 
of  Ladislaus,  the  cousin  of  king  Stephen,  was  appoint- 
ed king,  on  the  condition  of  restoring  idolatry.  Ge- 
rard and  three  other  bishops  endeavoured  to  divert 
him  from  the  design.  But  they  were  assaulted  on  the 
road  by  duke  Vathas,  a  zealous  pagan.  Andrew  him- 
self came  up  to  the  spot,  and  rescued  one  of  the  bi- 
shops: the  other  three,  of  whom  Gerard  was  one,  had 
fallen  by  the  arm  of  the  barbarian.  It  is  probable,  how- 
ever, that  divine  providence  permitted  their  atrocious 
villany  for  the  good  of  the  church.  The  heart  of  An- 
drew was  moved:  he  had  seen  of  what  idolatry  was 
capable:  he  examined  Christianity,  received  it,  re- 
pressed idolatry,  and  reigned  successfully.  After  the 
Hungarians  had  seen  such  a  prince  as  Stephen,  and 
had  felt  the  good  effects  on  society  resulting  from  the 
establishment  of  Christianity,  that  they  could  still 
prefer  idolatry,  is  a  deplorable  proof  of  the  native 
power  of  human  depravity!  What  long  continued 
exertions  are  necessary,  to  establish  genuine  goodness 
in  a  country! 

In  *  Denmark,  Othingar,  a  bishop  of  that  country, 
extended  the  pale  of  the  church  by  his  labours;  and 
Un\\'an,  the  bishop  of  Hamburg,  under  the  patronage 
of  the  emperor  Henry  II.  cut  down  the   idolatrous 

*  Cent.  Masrd.  cent.  xi. 


283 

groves,  which  the  people  of  his  diocese  frequented, 
and  erected  churches  in  their  stead. 

Godeschalcus,*  duke  of  the  Vandals,  revived  among; 
his  subjects  the  regard  for  the  gospel,  which  they  had 
once  embraced,  and  which  they  had  afterward  neglect- 
ed. It  is  not  easy  to  know  precisel}^,  what  were  the 
limits  of  his  dominions.  But  I  find  Lubeck,  Mecklen- 
burg, and  Sclavonia  mentioned  as  belonging  to,  or  as, 
at  least,  contiguous  to  his  dukedom.  Much  has  been 
said  in  praise  of  this  prince,  and  of  the  success  of  his 
labours.!  He  is  reported  to  have,  in  person,  exhorted 
his  people  with  much  affection  in  the  public  assem- 
blies; and  John  a  Scotchman,  the  bishop  of  Mecklen- 
burg, baptized  great  numbers  of  the  Sclavonians.  Yet 
this  last  people,  together  with  the  Obotriti,  whose  ca- 
pital town  was  Mecklenburg,  the  Venedi,  who  dwelt 
on  the  banks  of  the  Vistula,  and  the  Prussians,  conti- 
nued pagans,  in  a  great  measure,  throughout  this  cen- 
tury. Boleslaus,  king  of  Poland,  attempted  to  force 
these  nations  into  a  profession  of  Christianity;  and  some 
of  his  attendants  used  methods  to  evangelize  them, 
which  were  better  adapted  to  the  nature  of  the  gospel. 
Boniface,  in  particular,!  and  eighteen  other  persons, 
set  out  from  Germany,  to  labour  among  the  Prussians, 
and  were  massacred  by  that  barbarous  people.  They 
seem  to  have  been  among  the  last  of  the  European 
nations,  who  submitted  to  the  yoke  of  Christ.  In  the 
zealous  attempts  made,  however,  for  their  conversion, 
though  unsuccessful,  we  see  abundant  proofs,  that  the 
spirit  of  propagating  the  gospel,  which  was  the  bright- 
est gem  of  these  dark  ages,  still  existed. 

Nor  was  the  zeal  for  propagating  the  gospel,  with 
which  our  ancestors  had  been  so  eminently  endowed, 
evaporated  in  this  century.  In  the  year  1(301,  at  the 
desire  of  Olaus  II.  king  of  Sweden,  some  English 
priests  were  sent  over  into  the  north  by  king  Ethelred. 
Of  these  Sigefrid,  archdeacon  of  York,  was  one.  His 
labours  were  very  successful,  and  he  was  appointed 

*  Cent.  Magd.  cent.  xi.  f  Crantziiis  in  Vandalia. 

t  Mosheim,  cent.  xi.  cliap.  t. 


284 

bishop  of  Wexia,  in  East  Gothland.  Having  esta. 
blished  the  churches  there,  he  preached  to  the  infidels 
in  West  Gothland,  leaving  his  nephews  to  govern  his 
diocese,  while  he  was  absent.  But  they  were  mur- 
dered by  the  pagan  nobility  of  the  country.  A  melan- 
choly proof,  how  strong  the  spirit  of  idolatry  still 
remained  in  these  northern  regions!  The  same  kind  of 
family  pride,  which,  at  this  day,  preserves  the  remnants 
of  popery  in  protestant  countries,  preserved  the  exis- 
tence of  paganism  in  Sweden.  Sigefrid,  however,  re- 
turned into  his  diocese,  died  there  a  natural  death,  and 
was  buried  at  Wexia. 

This  man  is  said  to  have  finished  his  course  about 
the  year  1U02;  an  account  inconsistent,  as  to  the  order 
of  time,  with  that  which  has  been  already  given.  But 
not  to  trouble  the  reader  with  such  niceties  of  chrono- 
logy, as  at  this  distance  of  time  are  impossible  to  be 
adjusted,  it  is  more  material  to  observe,  that  he  appears 
to  have  been  an  apostolic  person;  that  on  his  first  arri- 
val in  Sweden,  he  was  obliged,  chiefly,  to  preach  by 
interpreters;  that  he  prevailed  on  the  king  to  spare  the 
murderers  of  his  nephews;  and,  that  though  he  was 
very  poor,  he  refused  to  touch  the  fine,  which  had  been 
exacted  on  those  murderers,  and  which  had  been  of- 
fered to  him  as  a  present  by  the  Swedish  monarch.* 
Gotebald,  another  English  missionary,  was  appointed 
bishop  in  Norway,  and  preached  in  Schonen. 

Ulfrid,  a  learned  and  virtuous  Englishman,  preach- 
ed the  faith,  first  in  Germany,  afterwards  in  Sweden, 
under  the  patronage  of  king  Olaus;  where  he  was  an 
instrument  of  converting  many,  till,  in  the  year  1028, 
preaching  against  the  idol  Thor,  and  hewing  it  down 
with  an  hatchet,  he  was  slain  by  the  pagans.  See  Adam 
of  Bremen,  who  wrote  his  history  of  the  church  in 
1080. 

Canute,  king  of  Denmark,  natural  son  of  Swein  11. 
whose  great  uncle  Canute  had  reigned  in  England, 
was  carefully  educated  by  his  father,  who  had  no  legi- 

*  Olaus  magn.  B.  17.  C  20.  Collier's  Ecc.  Hist.   Alban  Butler,  vol.  Ji. 


^85 

limate  issue.  He  became  king  of  Denmark  by  elec- 
tion, warred  aguinst  the  turbulent  barbarians  his 
neighbours,  and  planted  the  profession  of  Christianity 
in  Courland,  Samogitia,  and  Livonia.  His  zeal  for  the 
maintenance  of  the  clergy  having  disgusted  his  sub- 
jects, he  was  deserted  and  murdered.  His  brother 
Olaus  succeeded,  whose  successor  Eric  HI.  restored 
the  authority  of  the  clergy.  The  life  of  Canute  vi^as 
written  by  JElnoth,  a  monk  of  Canterbury,  who  lived 
twenty-four  years  in  Denmark,  and  who  wrote  in  1105. 
He  tells  us  that  the  first  preachers  of  the  faith  in  Den- 
mark, Sweden,  and  Norway  were  English  priests;  that 
the  Danes  embraced  the  gospel  with  zeal,  but  that  the 
Swedes  were  more  obstinate  in  their  idolatry,  among 
whom  Eschil,  an  Englishman,  was  martyred,  while 
he  was  preaching  Christ  to  some  savage  tribes.  That 
Sweden,  however,  was  chiefly  evangelized  by  Anglo- 
Saxon  missionaries,  is  the  remark  of  Stiernman  in  his 
treatise  on  the  state  of  learning  among  the  ancient 
Swedes.  Alban  Butler,  vol.  ii. 

Olaus,  king  of  Norway,  assisted  the  Danes  against 
Ethelred  of  England,  and,  in  his  return  from  England, 
carried  over  several  priests;  one  of  whom,  named 
Grimkele,  was  appointed  bishop  of  Drontheim,  the 
capital  of  king  Olaus.  This  prince  abolished  idola- 
trous customs  in  Norway,  Orkney,  and  Iceland.  He 
used  to  travel  with  zealous  preachers,  exhorting  his 
subjects,  and  destroying  temples.  The  pagans,  at 
length,  aided  by  Canute  of  England,  defeated  and  slew 
him  in  the  year  1030.  His  son  Magnus  was  called 
home  from  Russia,  and  became  king  of  Norway  in 
1039.  Alban  Butler,  vol.  vii. 

The  triumphs  of  the  gospel  in  Denmark  were,  upon 
the  whole,  very  conspicuous  in  this  century.  Hear  the 
account  of  Adam  of  Bremen,  who  wrote  concerning 
the  situation  of  this  country  in  the  year  1080.  *'  Look," 
says  he,  "at  that  very  ferocious  nation  of  the  Danes. 
For  a  long  time  they  have  been  accustomed,  in  the 
praises  of  God,  to  resound  alleluia.  Look  at  that 
piratical  people.  They  are  now  content  with  the  fruits 
Vol.  m.  37 


286 

of  their  own  country.  Look  at  that  horrid  region,  for- 
merly altogether  inaccessible  on  account  of  idolatry — 
they  now  eagerly  admit  the  preachers  of  the  word."* 

From  this  very  imperfect  account,  for  which  I  am 
obliged  to  Gil)bon,  and  which  he  candidly  admits  to 
be  true,  we  may  collect,  what  a  blessed  work  it  is,  to 
propagate  the  gospel  of  Christ;  that  no  meli  deserve 
better  of  mankind  than  faithful  missionaries;  and,  that 
the  allegorical  descriptions  of  the  effects  of  real  Chris- 
tianity, which  we  meet  with  in  the  prophets,  have  a 
deep  and  solid  meaning. f  To  see  Danes  and  English- 
men enjoying  together,  in  mutual  confidence  and  cha- 
rity, the  blessings  of  true  religion,  must  have  been 
surprising  to  those,  who  had  known,  with  what  savage 
barbarity  the  former  had  desolated  the  habitations  of 
the  latter.  In  truth,  that  religion  which  could  mollify, 
transform,  and  rectify  the  heart  of  an  ancient  Dane, 
must  indeed  be  divine.  These  are  the  triumphs  of  the 
gospel.  It  was  the  preaching  of  the  cross,  attended 
with  the  energy  of  the  holy  Spirit,  which  effected  this 
salutary  change  of  manners  in  the  north  of  Europe. 
Denmark  had  inflicted  much  evil  on  her  southern 
neighbours,  and  they  requited  her  with  spiritual  bless- 
ings. It  is  remarkable,  that,  to  this  day,  no  nation  has 
exceeded  the  Danes  in  labours  for  the  propagation  of 
the  gospel,  in  proportion  to  their  abilities  and  oppor- 
tunities. And  it  must  be  confessed,  that  they  owe 
much  to  mankind  on  the  score  of  gratitude,  for  the 
favours  of  the  same  kind,  which  their  ancestors  re- 
ceived. 

I  cannot,  for  want  of  materials,  dwell  on  the  parti- 
culars of  the  conversion  of  this  people. J  But  the  du- 

*  Gibbon,  vol.  v.  c.  55. 

f  Isaiah,  xi.  The  wolf  also  shall  dwell  with  the  lamb,  and  the  leopard 
shall  lie  down  with  the  kid. 

\  One  instance,  however,  is  recorded,  that  will  deserve  to  be  mentioned. 
William,  an  English  priest,  attended  Canute  the  great,  in  one  of  his  voy- 
ages from  England  to  Denmark.  Moved  with  pity  on  account  of  the  idol- 
atry of  the  Danes,  he  desired  to  be  left  as  a  missionary.  His  labours  were 
successful,  and  he  was  appointed  bishop  of  Roschild,  in  Zealand.  King 
Swein  having  put  to  death  some  persons  without  a  legal  tria'.,  William 
forbade  his  entrance  into  the  church.  Several  courtiers  drawing  their 
swords,  the  bishop  offered  them  his  neck.  Swein  submittted,  conformed 


287 

rable  change  of  their  manners  intimates,  that  their 
country  must  have  been  blessed  with  one  of  those  gra- 
cious "effusions"  of  tiieholy  Spirit,  the  consequences 
of  which  are  commonly  felt  for  ages  after.  Toward 
the  close  of  this  century,  the  northern  nations  ceased 
to  invade  the  southern  intirely.  The  last  attempt  was 
made  by  Magnus,  king  of  Norway,  on  the  isle  of  An- 
glesea;  but  he  was  repulsed  by  Hugh  earl  of  Shrews- 
bury,* in  the  eleventh  year  of  William  Rufus.  "  That 
restless  people  seem  about  this  time  to  have  learned 
the  use  of  tillage,  which  thenceforth  kept  them  at 
home,  and  freed  the  other  nations  of  Europe  from 
the  devastations  spread  over  them  by  those  piratical 
invaders.  This  proved  one  great  cause  of  the  subse- 
quent settlement  and  improvement  of  the  southern 
nations." 

I  quote  the  words  of  Hume,  which  represent  in 
a  very  perspicuous  manner  the  advantages  resulting 
from  the  civilization  of  the  north,  not  only  to  the 
Danes,  Norwegians,  and  Swedes,  but  also  to  the  south 
of  Europe.  It  is  in  assigning  the  cause  of  this  happy 
change,  that  I  am  obliged  to  dissent  from  the  elegant 
historian.  He  thinks  that  the  effect  is  sufficientiv  ac- 
counted  for  by  these  northern  people  having  learned 
the  use  of  tillage.  But,  besides,  that  he  has  no  histo- 
rcal  evidence  of  this  fact,  and  supports  it  by  mere 
conjecture,  it  is  fair  to  ask,  how  came  they  to  be  so 
docile  and  tractable,  as  to  submit  to  the  arts  of  agri- 
culture? Does  a  nation,  habituated  to  arms  and  to  idle- 
ness, easily  give  itself  up  to  industry,  and  the  arts  of 
peace?  If  we  can  answer  this  question  aright,  we  shall 
know  to  ^^  hat  is  to  be  ascribed  the  happy  transforma- 
tion of  the  north.  Scanty  as  my  materials  have  been, 
I  have  yet  shown,  that  the  gospel  had  now  been,  for 
three  centuries,  preached  in  Scandinavia.  To  this, 
doubtless,  as  the  principal  cause,  we  must  attribute 
the  happy  alteration  of  manners  in  those  barbarous  re- 

to  the  rules  of  penance  imposed  by  William,  ami  ever  after  concurred  with 
his  views.  The  bishop  of  Ruschild  died  in  the  year  1067.  Alban  Butler. 
*  Hume,  vol.  i.  c.  v. 


288 

gions.  Christian  godliness  has  the  promise  of  the  life 
that  now  is,  as  well  as  of  that  which  is  to  come. 
Wh;ie  it  conducts  enslaved  souls  into  liberty,  and, 
turiiing  them  from  the  power  ol  Satan  to  God,  in- 
vests them  with  the  garments  of  salvation,  it  also  me- 
liorates their  condition  in  this  life,  and  diffuses,  through 
the  world,  the  most  salutary  precepts  of  peace,  order, 
and  tranquillity.  Let  not  men  expect  the  general  civi- 
lization of  the  globe  by  any  other  methods.  When  the 
earth  shall  be  full  of  the  knowledge  of  the  Lord,  then 
will  the  nations  learn  war  no  more.  We  enjoy,  at  this 
day,  the  advantages  of  society  derived  to  Europe, 
from  the  propagcition  of  the  gospel,  while  we  ungrate- 
fully depreciate  the  labours  of  those  christian  mission- 
aries, through  which,  under  God,  those  advantages 
were  conveyed  to  us.  Our  Saviour  has  directed  us, 
to  pray  to  the  Lord  of  the  harvest,  that  he  would  send 
forth  labourers  into  his  harvest;  and  every  one  who 
breathes  the  genuine  spirit  of  the  gospel,  will  devoutly 
obey  the  precept. 


CHAP.  IV. 

The  State  of  the  Church  in  England. 

As  the  importance  of  our  own  country  began  to  be 
displayed  in  this  century,  it  will  be  proper  to  take 
some  notice  of  the  appearance  of  religion  in  an  island, 
which,  we  have  seen,  had  so  distinguished  a  share,  in 
diffusing  divine  truth  through  the  northern  parts  of 
Europe.  Even  the  very  little  of  evangelical  religion, 
which  we  may  discover,  may  deserve  our  attention. 

In  the  reign  of  Ethelred,  a  very  cruel  massacre  of 
the  Danes  was,  by  royal  order,  made  throughout  his 
dominions.  The  rage  of  the  populace,  excited  by  so 
many  injuries,  was  extreme,  and  made  no  distinction 
between  the  innocent  and  the  guilty.  Swein,  king  of 
Denmark,  amply  revenged  these  cruelties,  by  repeated 


289 

devastations:  and  the  unwarlike  Ethelred  fled  into 
Normandy  to  save  his  life,  while  his  subjects  felt  all 
the  miseries,  which  might  be  expected  from  incensed 
and  victorious  barbarians.  Among  other  instances  of 
their  hostilities,  they  levied  a  contribution  on  the 
county  of  Kent,  and  murdered  the  archbishop  of  Can- 
terbury, who  had  refused  to  countenance  the  exac- 
tion.* 

The  author,  whose  short  account  I  have  followed, 
does  not  deign  to  give  us  the  name  of  this  archbishop, 
nor  to  relate  a  single  circumstance  of  his  murder.  I 
cannot  but  think,  however,  that  he  would  have  en- 
larged on  the  subject,  if  it  would  have  grarified  his 
dislike  of  religion.  But  thus  a  conduct,  at  once  the 
most  magnanimous  and  patriotic,  is  buried  in  obscu- 
rity, because  the  hero  was  an  ecclesiastic.  Let  it, 
however,  receive  the  justice,  which  is  due  to  it,  from 
these  memoirs. 

Thef  Dunes  were  besieging  Canterbury,  when  Al- 
phage,  the  archbishop,  was  entreated  by  his  friends  to 
save  his»  own  life.  "  God  forbid,"  said  Alphage,  "  that 
I  should  tarnish  my  character  by  so  inglorious  a  con- 
duct; and  should  be  afraid  of  going  to  heaven,  because 
a  violent  death  lies  across  in  the  passage.  I  have  been 
the  instrument  of  drawing  over  several  considerable 
persons  among  these  Danes  to  the  gospel:  if  this  be  a 
fault,  I  shall  be  happy  in  suffering  for  it.  I  have  ran- 
somed some  of  my  countrymen,  and  supported  others 
when  in  captivity.  If  Danes  be  angry,  because  I  have 
repj  oved  their  sins,  it  behooves  me  to  remember  Him, 
who  hath  said,  "  If  thou  give  not  the  wicked  warn- 
ing, his  blood  will  I  require  at  thine  hand."  It  is  the 
character  of  an  hireling  to  leave  the  sheep,  when  he 
seeth  the  wolf  coming.  1  mean,  therefore,  to  stand 
the  shock,  and  submit  to  the  order  of  divine  provi- 
dence."! 

The  archbishop,  influenced  by  these  motives,  re- 
mained in  Canterbury,  and  exhorted  the  people,  as  a 

•  Hume,  vol.  i.  p.  144.  f  Collier's  Ecc  Hist. 

^  Osbern  de  Vit.  Elphegi.  Hoveden's  Annals 


290 

christian  pastor.  But  the  Danes  entered  the  city  by 
violence,  and  exercised  the  most  horrid  barbarities, 
particularly  on  ladies  of  quality,  whom  they  dragged 
to  the  stake  and  burnt  to  death,  nor  did  they  spare 
even  infants.  Alphage,  moved  at  these  hideous  scenes, 
had  the  boldness  to  expostukite  with  them.  "  The 
cradle,"  says  he,  "  can  afford  no  triumphs  for  soldiers. 
It  would  be  better  for  you  to  exercise  your  vengeance 
on  me,  whose  death  may  give  some  celebrity  to  your 
names.  Remember,  some  of  your  troops,  have,  through 
my  means,  been  brought  over  to  the  faith  of  Christ, 
and  I  have  frequently  rebuked  30U  for  your  acts  of 
injustice."  The  Danes,  exasperated  at  his  words, 
seized,  and  bound  the  archbishop,  and  kept  him  pri- 
soner for  seven  months.  His  liberty,  however,  was 
offered  to  him,  on  condition  of  immense  payments  to 
be  made  by  himself  and  by  Ethclred  the  king.  He 
told  them,  that  the  sums  were  too  large  to  be  raised 
by  any  exactions,  and  he  firmly  refiised  to  drain  the 
treasures  of  the  church,  for  the  sake  of  saving  his  life; 
accounting  it  wrong  to  give  to  pagans  those  sums, 
which  had  been  devoted  to  the  honour  of  religion,  and 
to  the  relief  of  the  poor.  The  merciless  Danes,  enraged 
beyond  measure,  threw  him  down  and  stoned  him, 
while  he  prayed  for  his  enemies,  and  for  the  church; 
and,  at  length,  a  certain  Dane,  lately  become  a  chris- 
tian, despatched  him,  in  order  to  free  him  from  his 
pain.  One  of  his  successors,  the  famous  Lanfranc, 
doubted  whether  Alphage  ought  to  be  looked  on  as 
a  martyr,  because  he  had  not  died  explicitly  for  the 
christian  faith.  But  Anselm,  a  still  more  famous  per- 
sonage, told  Lanfranc,  that  Alphage  was  a  real  mar- 
tyr, who  died  rather  than  commit  an  unjust  thing. 
Nor  is  it  easy  to  conceive  that  any  spirit,  less  than 
that  of  a  christian,  could  have  conducted  him  through 
such  a  scene,  and  supported  him  with  so  much  forti- 
tude and  charity.  Alphage  was  murdered  in  the  year 
1013. 

A  preceding  archbishop,  probably  his  immediate 
predecessor,  Elfric,  in  the  year  1006,  had  directed  in 


291 

one  of  the  canons  published  at  a  council,*  in  which 
he  presided,  that  every  parish  priest  should  be  obliged 
on  Sundays  and  on  other  holidays,  to  explain  the  Lord's 
prayer,  the  creed,  and  the  gospel  for  the  day,  before 
the  people,  in  the  English  tongue.  While  historians 
enlarge  on  the  quarrels  between  the  papacy  and  the 
civil  power,  and  descant,  with  tedious  prolixity,  on 
the  superstitions,  which  were  in  vogue  during  the 
dark  ages,  they  are  too  apt  to  pass  over  in  a  cursory 
manner,  such  facts  as  this,  which  has  been  mentioned. 
Let  the  reader,  who  has  seriously  considered  the  im- 
portance and  excellency  of  evangelical  truth,  reflect 
on  the  preciousness  of  the  doctrines,  which  the  Lord's 
prayer,  the  creed,  and  some  of  the  plainest  and  most 
practical  passages  of  the  new  testament,  do  either  ex- 
hibit or  imply;  and  he  will  be  convinced,  that,  if  the 
canon  of  Elfric  had  been  obeyed  with  any  tolerable 
degree  of  spirit  and  exactness  in  a  number  of  parishes 
in  England,  the  ignorance  and  darkness  could  not 
have  been  so  complete  nor  so  universal,  as  we  are 
generally  taught  to  believe  it  was.  Such  bishops  as 
Elfric  and  Alphage  must  have  been  useful  lights  in 
those  times.  The  gospels  read  in  the  churches,  I  sup- 
pose, were  either  the  same  as,  or  similar  to,  those 
which  are  read  at  this  day;  nor  is  it  to  be  imagined, 
that  a  familiar  exposition  of  them,  in  conjunction  with 
the  creed  and  the  Lord's  prayer,  would  be  in  vain: 
because,  in  every  age,  the  preaching  of  christian  fun- 
damentals is  accompanied  with  a  divine  energy,  and 
the  word  returns  not  void  to  its  divine  Author,  but 
prospers  in  the  thing  whereto  he  sends  it.f  The  mix- 
ture of  superstitious  inventions  might  adulterate,  but 
could  not  altogether  destroy  the  efficacy  of  the  word 
of  God.  Nor  can  I  doubt  but  many  at  this  day,  who 
boast  of  their  exemption  from  papal  ignorance,  and 
who  call  themselves  enlightened,  because  they  have 
been  refined  by  philosophical  and  political  knowledge, 
are  themselves  much  inferior  in  christian  light  and 

*  Collier-  t  Isaiah,  Iv. 


292 

spirh  to  many,  who  lived  in  the  dark  times  of  the 
eleventh  century,  under  the  benefit  of  such  advantages 
of  instruction,  as  the  canon  before  U3»  afforded.  For 
that  elementary  knowledge,  which  is  the  object  of  the 
canon,  is  ever  more  salutary  in  its  influence,  than  the 
most  ingenious  subtilities  of  literary  refinement  in  re- 
ligion. These,  like  the  spider's  web,  are  intricate,  and 
are  often  found  to  be  flimsy  and  void  of  any  substan- 
tial advantage  to  mankind.  Armed  with  catechetical 
knowledge,  I  conceive  that  serious  minds  would  in 
that  age  find  rest  and  food  to  their  souls;  and  the  love 
of  God  being,  by  this  means,  shed  abroad  in  the 
heart,  would  constrain  the  missionaries  of  that  period 
to  difflise  the  gospel  in  the  northern  regions  with  abi- 
lity and  success. 

The  facts,  on  which  these  reflections  are  founded, 
may  show  us,  that  God,  had  not  forsaken  this  island 
during  the  disastrous  reign  of  Ethelred,  though  the 
political  hemisphere  was  gloomy  beyond  expression. 
Ethelred  himself,  though  he  returned  into  his  king- 
dom, was  never  able  to  make  head  against  the  Danes, 
who  at  length,  in  the  year  1017,  brought  the  English 
into  total  subjection.  Their  king  Canute,  and  his  two 
sons  in  succession,  governed  England,  which,  how- 
ever, recovered  itself  from  the  Danish  yoke,  and  re- 
ceived Edward  the  confessor,  the  son  of  Ethelred,  as 
its  monarch,  in  the  year  1041.  But  the  Saxon  line, 
though  restored,  was  unable  to  maintain  itself  on  the 
throne,  and  soon  sunk  under  the  power  of  William 
the  Norman,  who  in  the  year  1066,  beheld  himself 
the  sovereign  of  England,  which  continues  under  the 
government  of  his  posterity  to  this  day. 

Under  William,*  the  papal  power,  which  hitherto 
had  by  no  means  been  so  absolute  in  England  as  in 
the  southern  countries,  began  to  be  felt  more  strongly, 

*  Osmund,  a  Norman,  privy  counsellor  to  William  the  conqueror,  af- 
terwards bishop  of  Salisbury,  corrected  the  liturgv  used  in  his  diocese. 
And  he  was  thou.^ht  to  have  done  the  work  so  judiciously,  that  the  ser 
vice  "  In  Usum  Sarum,"  was  received  in  other  dioceses,  and  became 
common  throughout  England.  For,  before  this  time,  e^ery  diocese  had 
its  appropriate  liturgy.  Collier's  Eccles.  History. 


293 

and  soon  reached  the  same  height,  which  it  had  al- 
tained  in  France  and  Italy.  The  tyrant  found  it  a  con- 
venient engine  for  the  support  of  his  own  despotic 
authority:  and  while  he  took  care  that  every  one  of 
his  subjects  should,  in  ecclesiastical  matters,  bow  un- 
der the  yoke  of  the  bishop  of  Rome,  he  reserved  to 
himself  the  supreme  dominion  in  civil  affairs,  and  ex- 
ercised it  with  the  most  unqualified  rigor.  Lanfranc, 
whom  he  appointed  archbishop  of  Canterbury,  zeal- 
ously supported  the  power  of  Rome,  and  confirmed 
the  absurd  doctrine  of  transubstantiation  by  his  influ- 
ence and  authority.  His  successor,  Anselm,  was  no 
less  devoted  to  the  pope,  and  maintained  several  fa- 
mous contests  with  his  sovereign  William  Rufus,  the 
son  and  successor  of  the  conqueror.  This  archbishop 
contributed  much,  by  his  influence,  to  settle  the  celi- 
bacy of  the  clergy  in  England;  and  it  must  be  con- 
fessed, that  even  the  virtues  of  this  great  man,  through 
the  peculiar  infelicity  of  the  times,  were  attended  with 
great  disadvantages  to  the  state  of  societ}^  For  it 
ought  to  be  observed,  that,  if  we  set  aside  his  attach- 
ment to  the  authority  of  the  pope,  and  his  passion  for 
the  fashionable  superstitions,  his  conduct  was  pious 
and  exemplary:  his  zeal  against  the  luxury,  simony, 
and  vices  of  the  great  was  laudable:  and,  above  all, 
his  defence  of  evangelical  truth,  adorned  by  an  up- 
right course  of  life  and  conversation,  preserved,  under 
God,  some  genuine  remains  of  godliness  in  the  nation. 
Nor  ought  we  to  follow  implicitly  the  ideas  of  our 
protestant  historians,  who,  in  every  debate  between 
the  king  and  the  church,  are  sure  to  decide  against 
the  latter.  What  could  be  more  arbitrary,  for  instance, 
than  the  demand  of  a  thousand  pounds  which  William 
Rufus  made  upon  Anselm?  and  what  more  warrant- 
able than  the  conduct  of  tlie  latter?*  He  offered  the 
king  five  hundred  pounds,  which  were  refused  in  dis- 
gust. Anselm  gave  the  sum  to  the  poor,  rather  than 
rack  his  tenants  to  double  it,  and  said  to  the  tyrant;, 

*  Collier. 

Vol.  III.  38 


294 

'  If  I  am  used  according  to  my  station,  all  I  have  is 
at  your  service;  if  I  am  treated  as  a  slave  I  shall  keep 
my  property  to  myself." 

And  undoubtedly  the  rapacity  and  profaneness  of 
the  Norman  princes,  particularly  of  William  Rufus, 
in  the  seizure  and  alienation  of  ecclesiastical  benefices^ 
were  justly  opposed  by  the  bishops  of  those  times.  It 
is  only  to  be  wished,  that  they  had  conducted  their 
opposition  on  the  grounds  of  scripture,  and  the  pre- 
cedents of  the  primitive  church,  not  on  the  authority 
of  the  court  of  Rome. 

'  Nothing  else  seems  to  have  occurred,  deserving  a 
place  in  these  memoirs,  in  the  general  history  of  our 
island,  during  the  course  of  this  century,  except  what 
relates  to  the  personal  character  of  Margaret  queen  of 
Scotland:  a  woman  of  the  rarest  piety,  and  of  a  cha- 
racter fitted  to  throw  a  lustre  on  the  purest  ages.  She 
was  sister  to  Edgar  Athelin,  the  grandson  of  Ed- 
mund Ironside,  who  was  the  son  and  successor  of 
Ethelred.  Edgar  was  a  peculiar  favourite  of  the  En- 
glish, because  he  was  the  last  of  the  Saxon  line  of 
princes.  In  the  reign  of  William  the  Norman,  he  and 
his  sister  found  a  safe*  retreat  in  Scotland,  under  the 
protection  of  Malcolm,  who,  by  the  assistance  of  Ed- 
ward the  confessor,  had  recovered  the  throne  of  Scot- 
land from  the  usurper  Macbeth.  Malcolm  married  the 
P^nglish  princess.  Wonderful  things  are  related  of  her 
piety,  liberality,  and  humility.  Through  her  influ- 
ence, the  ferocious  spirit  of  her  husband  received  an 
happy  tincture  of  humanity.  She  was  enabled  to  re- 
form the  kingdom  of  Scotland  in  a  great  degree,  and 
to  introduce  a  more  serious  regard  to  the  duties  of  the 
Lord's  day,  than  had  been  known  in  that  country.  She 
had  by  Malcolm  six  sons  and  two  daughters.  Three 
of  her  sons  reigned  successively,  and  were  esteemed 
excellent  monarchs.  Her  daughter  Matilda  was  wife 
to  Henry  I.  of  England,  and  was  looked  on  as  a  pious 
christian.  Margaret  had  taken  uncommon  care  of  hev 

*  Alban  Butler,  vol.  v 


295 

children's  education,  and  the  fruits  of  her  labours  ap- 
peared in  their  lives.  Theodoric,  her  confessor,  ob- 
serves, that  she  was  remarkably  attentive  in  public 
prayer.  "  And,"  says  he,  *'  she  would  discourse  with 
me  concerning  the  sweetness  of  everlasting  life,  in 
such  a  manner,  as  to  draw  tears  from  my  eyes."  This 
same  Theodoric,  a  monk  of  Durham,  wrote  her  life. 
She  was  afflicted  with  sickness  at  the  very  time  in 
which  her  husband  Malcolm  was  slain  at  Alnvi^ick  in 
Northumberland,  in  the  time  of  William  Rufus,  in 
1093.  The  bitter  news  was  brought  to  her  ears:  her 
reflection  upon  it  was  truly  christian.  "  I  thank  thee, 
O  Lord,  that  in  sending  me  so  great  an  affliction,  thou 
wouldst  purify  me  from  my  sins.  O  Lord  Jesus  Christ, 
who  by  thy  death  hast  given  life  to  the  world,  deliver 
me  from  evil."  She  survived  this  event  only  a  few 
days.  A  princess  of  such  accomplishments,  could  not 
have  shone  in  vain  in  Scotland;  but,  most  probably, 
must  have  led  man} ,  in  a  rude  and  ignorant  age,  to 
think  that  there  is  something  real  in  godliness. 


CHAP.  V, 

Anselm. 

1  HAT  good  men* frequently  appear  to  more  advan- 
tage in  private  life  than  in  public,  is  a  remark  which 
was  perhaps  never  better  exemplified  than  in  this  pre- 
late, of  whom  all  that  is  known  by  the  generality  of 
readers  is,  that  he  was  a  strenuous  supporter  of  the 
papal  dominion  in  England.  I  can  easily  conceive  that 
he  might  be  influenced  by  the  purest  motives  in  this 
part  of  his  conduct,  when  I  reflect  on  the  shameless 
and  profane  manners  of  the  Norman  princes.  But  his 
private  life  was  purely  his  own,  originating  more 
directly  from  the  honest  and  good  heart,  with  which, 
through  grace,  he  was  eminently  endowed.  As  a 
divine  and  a  christian,  he  was  the  first  of  characters  in 


296 

this  century,  and  will,  therefore,  deserve  some  atten- 
tion. 

He*  was  born  at  Aoust  in  Piedmont.  From  early 
life  his  religious  cast  of  mind  was  so  prevalent,  that, 
at  the  age  of  fifteen,  he  oft'ered  himself  to  a  monastery, 
but  was  refused,  lest  his  father  should  have  been  dis- 
pleased. He  afterwards  became  entangled  in  the  vani- 
ties of  the  world;  and,  to  his  death,  he  bewailed  the 
sins  of  his  youth.  Becoming  a  scholar  of  Lanfranc, 
his  predecessor  in  the  see  of  Canterbury,  at  that  time 
a  monk  at  Bee  in  Normandy,  he  commenced  monk  in 
the  year  1060,  at  the  age  of  twenty-seven.  He  after- 
wards became  the  prior  of  the  monastery.  His  pro- 
gress in  religious  knowledge  was  great;  but  mildness 
and  charity  seem  to  have  predominated  in  all  his  views 
of  piety.  The  book,  commonly  called  Augustine's 
meditations,  was  chiefly  abstracted  from  the  writings 
of  Anselm.  At  the  age  of  forty-five,  he  became  abbot 
of  Bee.  Lanfranc  dying  in  1089,  William  Rufus 
usurped  the  revenues  of  the  see  of  Canterbury,  and 
treated  the  monks  of  the  place  in  a  barbarous  manner. 
For  several  years  this  profane  tyrant  declared,  that  none 
should  have  the  see  while  he  lived;  but  a  fit  of  sick- 
ness overawed  his  spirit;  and  conscience,  the  voice  of 
God,  which  often  speaks  even  in  the  proudest  and  the 
most  insensible,  severely  reproved  his  wickedness; 
insomuch,  that  he  nominated  Anselm  to  be  the  suc- 
cessor of  Lanfranc.  That  Anselm  should  have  accep- 
ted the  office  with  much  reluctance,  under  such  a 
prince,  is  by  no  means  to  be  wondered  at:  and,  the 
more  upright  and  conscientious  men  are,  the  more  wary 
and  reluctant  will  they  always  be  found  in  accepting 
offices  of  so  sacred  a  nature;  though  it  is  natural  for 
men  of  a  secular  spirit  to  judge  of  others  by  them- 
selves, and  to  suppose  the  "  nolo  episcopari"  to  be, 
without  any  exceptions,  the  language  of  hypocrisy. 

Anselm  pressed  the  king  to  allow  the  calling  of 
councils,  in  order  to  institute  an  inquiry  into  crimes 

*  Butler,  vol.  i\ . 


297 

and  abuses;  and  also  to  fill  the  vacant  abbeys,  the  re- 
venues of  which  William  had  reserved  to  himself 
with  sacrilegious  avarice.  Nothing  but  the  convic- 
tion of  conscience,  and  the  ascendency,  which  real 
uprightness  maintains  over  wickedness  and  profligacy, 
could  have  induced  such  a  person  as  William  Rufus, 
to  have  promoted  Anselm  to  the  see,  though  he  must 
have  foreseen  how  improbable  it  was,  that  the  abbot 
would  ever  become  the  tame  instrument  of  his  tyran- 
ny and  oppression.  In  fact,  Anselm,  finding  the  church 
overborne  by  the  iniquities  of  the  tyrant,  retired  to  the 
continent  with  two  monks,  one  of  whom,  named  Ead- 
mer,  wrote  his  life. 

Living  a  retired  life  in  Calabria,  he  gave  emplo}^- 
ment  to  his  active  mind  in  writinq;  a  treatise  on  the 
reasons  why  God  should  become  man,  and  on  the 
doctrine  of  the  trinity  and  the  incarnation;  a  work  at 
that  time  useful  to  the  church  of  Christ,  as  he  refuted 
the  sentiments  of  Roscelin,  who  had  published  erro- 
neous views  concerning  the  trinity.  For,  after  a  sleep 
of  many  ages,  the  genius  of  arianism  or  socinianism, 
or  both,  had  awaked,  and  taken  advantage  of  the 
general  ignorance,  to  corrupt  the  fundamental  doc- 
trines of  Christianity.  Anselm  knew  how  to  reason 
closely  and  systematically,  after  the  manner  of  the 
famous  Peter  Lombard,  master  of  the  sentences,  and 
bishop  of  Paris;  and  he  was  properly  the  first  of  the 
scholastic  divines.  The  method  of  ratiocination  then 
used  was,  no  doubt,  tedious,  verbose,  and  subtile;  and, 
in  process  of  time,  grew  more  and  more  perplexed. 
It  was,  however,  preferable  to  the  dissipation  and 
inanity,  which,  in  many  publications  of  our  times, 
pretend  to  the  honour  of  good  sense  and  sound  wis- 
dom, though  devoid  of  learning  and  industry:  and  the 
furniture  of  the  schools,  in  the  hands  of  a  fine  genius 
like  Anselm,  adorned  with  solid  piety,  and  under  the 
control  of  a  good  understanding,  stemmed  the  torrent 
of  profane  infidelity,  and  ably  supported  the  cause  of 
godliness  ii\the  world.  Roscelin  was  confuted,  and  the 
common  orthodox  doctrine  of  the  trinity  upheld  itself 


29a 

in  the  church.  What  were  the  precise  views  of  Roscc- 
Jiii  Aviil  be  better  understood,  when  we  come  to  intro- 
duce one  of  his  scholars,  the  famous  Peter  Abelard, 
to  the  reader's  notice. 

Anselm,  weary  of  an  empty  title  of  dignity,  and 
seeing  no  probability  of  being  enabled  to  serve  the 
church  in  the  archbishopric,  entreated  the  pope  to  give 
him  leave  to  resign  it,  but  in  vain.  Nor  does  he  seem 
to  have  been  justly  chargeable  with  the  display  of  an 
"  ostentatious  humility,"  when  he  had  first  refused 
the  promotion.^-'  The  integrity,  with  which  he  had 
acted,  e\'er  since  that  promotion  had  taken  place, 
ought  to  hd.ve  rescued  him  from  the  illiberal  censure. 
"  Rufus  had  detained  in  prison  several  persons,  whom 
he  had  ordered  to  be  freed  during  the  time  of  his 
penitence;  he  still  preyed  upon  the  ecclesiastical  bene- 
fices; the  sale  of  spiritual  dignities  continued  as  open 
as  ever;  and  he  kept  possession  of  a  considerable  part 
of  the  revenues  belonging  to  the  see  of  Canterbury." 
Was  it  a  crime,  or  was  it  an  instance  of  laudable  inte- 
grity in  Anselm,  to  remonstrate  against  such  proceed- 
ings? I  suppose  the  candor  and  good  sense  of  the 
author,  to  whom  I  allude,  would  have  inclined  him  to 
praise  that  upright  conduct,  for  which  Anselm  was 
obliged  to  retire  to  the  continent,  had  not  this  same 
Anselm  been  a  priest,  and  a  priest  too  of  sincere  zeal 
and  fervor.  In  justice  to  Anselm,  it  should,  more- 
over, be  observed,  that  one  reason,  why  he  wished  to 
resign  his  archbishopric,  was,  that  he  believed  he. 
might  be  of  more  service  to  the  souls  of  men  in  a 
merely  clerical  character,  which  wa.s  more  obscure. 
And  he  was  naturally  led  to  assign  this  reason  to  the 
pope,  from  the  observation,  which  he  made  of  the 
effect  of  his  preaching  on  audiences  in  Italy. 

Men  of  superior  talents,  however,  are  frequently 
born  to  drudge  in  business  or  in  arts,  whether  they 
be  in  prosperous  or  in  adverse  circumstances.  For 
mankind  feel  the  need  of  such  men;  and  they  them- 

*  See  Hume,  vol.  i.  p.  302- 


299 

selves  are  not  ^pt  to  bury  their  powers  in  indolence. 
A  council  was  called  at  Bari  by  pope  Urban,  to  settle 
with  the  Greeks  the  dispute  which  had  long  separated 
the  eastern  and  western  churches,  concerning  the  pro- 
cession of  the  Holyghost.  For  the  Greek  church,  it 
should  seem,  without  any  scriptural  reason,  had  deni- 
ed the  procession  of  the  Holyghost  from  the  Son;  and 
had,  therefore,  thrust  the  words  filioo^:  out  of  the 
nicene  creed.  While  the  disputants  were  cngpged, 
Anselm,  said  the  pope,  Anselm  our  father  and  master, 
where  are  you?  I'he  archbishop  arose,  and  by  his 
powers  of  argumentation  silenced  the  Greeks. 

At  Lyons,  he  wrote  on  the  conception  of  the  virgin, 
and  on  original  sin;  and  thus  he  employed  himself  in 
religious,  not  in  secular  cares,  during  the  whole  of  his 
exile.  A  strong  proof  of  his  exemption  from  that  domi- 
neering ambition,  of  which  he  has  been  accused.  In 
the  year  11 00  he  heard  of  the  death  of  his  royal  perse- 
cutor, which  he  is  said  to  have  seriously  lamented,  and 
returned  into  England,  by  the  invitation  of  Henry  I. 
To  finish,  at  once,  the  account  of  his  unpleasant  con- 
tests with  the  Norman  princes,  he,  at  length,  w?.s  ena- 
bled to  compromise  them.  The  great  object  of  contro- 
versy was  the  same  in  P^ngland,  as  in  the  other  coun- 
tries of  Europe,  namely,  "  Whether  the  investiture  of 
bishoprics  should  be  received  from  the  king  or  from 
the  pope."  Anselm,  moved  undoubtedly  by  a  consci 
entious  zeal,  because  all  the  world  bore  witness  to  his 
integrity,  was  decisive  for  the  latter;  and  the  egregious 
iniquities,  and  shameless  violations  of  all  justice  and 
decorum,  practised  b}'  princes  in  that  age,  would  na- 
tnrallv  strengthen  the  prejudices  of  Anselm's  educa- 
tion. To  receive  investiture  from  the  pope  for  the  spi- 
ritual jurisdiction,  and,  at  the  same  time,  to  do  homage 
to  the  king  for  the  temporalities,  was  the  only  medium, 
which  in  those  times  could  be  found,  between  the  pre- 
tensions of  the  civil  and  ecclesiastical  dominion;  and 
matters  were  settled,  on  this  plan,  both  in  England  and 
In  Germany. 

If  Anselm  then  contributed  to  the  depression  of  the 


300 

civil  po^er,  and  the  confirmation  of  the  papal,  he  was 
unhappily  carried  away  by  a  popular  torrent,  which 
few  minds  had  power  to  resist.  It  seems  certain,  how- 
ever, that  ambition  formed  no  part  of  this  man's  cha- 
racter. "  While  I  am  with  you,"  he  would  often  say  to 
his  friends,  "  I  am  like  a  bird  in  a  cave  amidst  her 
young,  and  enjoy  the  sweets  of  retirement  and  social 
affections.  But  when  I  am  thrown  into  the  world,  I  am 
like  the  same  bird  hunted  and  harassed  by  ravens  or 
other  fowls  of  prey:  the  incursions  of  various  cares 
distract  me;  and  secular  employments,  which  I  love 
not,  vex  my  soul."  He,  who  spent  a  great  part  of  his 
life  in  retirement,  who  thought,  spake,  and  wrote  so 
much  of  vital  godliness;  and  whose  moral  character 
was  allowed,  even  by  his  enemies,  to  have  ever  been 
without  a  blot,  deserves  to  be  believed  in  these  decla- 
rations.* 

Let  us  then  attend  to  those  traits  of  character,  which 
were  more  personal,  and  in  which  the  heart  of  the  man 
more  plainly  appears.  He  practised  that,  which  all 
godly  persons  have  ever  found  salutary  and  even  ne- 
cessary, namely,  retired  and  devotional  meditation,  and 
even  watched  long  in  the  night  for  the  same  purpose. 
One  day,  an  hare,  pursued  by  the  hounds,  ran  under  his 
horse  for  refuge,  as  he  was  riding.  The  object,  bring- 
ing at  once  to  his  recollection  a  most  awful  scene,  he 
stopped  and  said  weeping,  "  this  hare  reminds  me  of  a 
sinner  just  dying,  surrounded  with  devils,  waiting  for 
their  prey."  It  was  in  this  manner,  that  he  used  to 
spiritualize  e\^ery  object,  a  practice  ever  derided  by 
profane  minds,  whether  performed  injudiciously  or 
not;  but  to  which,  in  some  degree,  every  devout  and 
pious  spirit  on  earth  has  been  addicted. 

In  a  national  synod,  held  at  St.  Peter's  Westminster, 
he  forbade  men  to  be  sold  as  cattle,  which  had  till  then 
been  practised.  For  the  true  reliefs  and  mitigations  of 
human  misery  lay  intirely,  at  that  time,  in  the  infiu- 
c«ce  of  Christianity;  and  small  as  that  influence  then 

*  See  his  life,  written  by  Eadmer. 


301 

was,  the  ferocity  of  the  age  was  tempered  by  it;  and 
human  life  was  thence  prevented  from  being  intirely 
degraded  to  a  level  with  that  of  the  beasts  which 
perish. 

Anselm  died  in  the  sixteenth  year  of  his  archbishop- 
ric, and  in  the  seventy- sixth  of  his  age.  Toward 
the  end  of  his  life,  he  wrote  on  the  will,  predestination, 
and  grace,  much  in  Augustine's  manner.  In  prayers, 
meditations,  and  hymns,  he  seems  to  have  had  a  pecu- 
liar delight.  Eadmer  says,  that  he  used  to  say,  "  If  he 
saw  hell  open,  and  sin  before  him,  he  would  leap  into 
the  former,  to  avoid  the  latter."  I  am  sorry  to  see  this 
sentiment,  which,  stripped  of  figure,  means  no  more 
than  what  all  good  men  allow,  that  he  feared  sin  more 
than  punishment,  aspersed  by  so  good  a  divine  as  Fox 
the  martyrologist.  *  But  Anselm  was  a  papist,  and  the 
best  protestants  have  not  been  without  their  prejudices. 

But  it  is  time  to  let  Anselm  speak  for  himself;  it  is 
possible,  we  may  hear  something  by  no  means  un- 
worthy the  attention  of  the  most  intelligent  christians. 
A  direction  for  the  visitation  of  the  sick  was  composed 
by  Anselm;!  the  substance  of  which  is  as  follows. 
Two  previous  questions  were  to  be  asked  by  the  mi- 
nister; the  first  was,  Dost  thou  believe  that  thou  de- 
servest  damnation?  the  second  was,  Dost  thou  intend 
to  lead  a  new  life?  When  the  sick  man  had  returned  an 
answer  in  the  affirmative  to  these  questions,  he  was 
further  asked.  Dost  thou  believe,  that  thou  canst  not 
be  saved  but  by  the  death  of  Christ?  The  sick  man  an- 
swered, I  do  so  believe.  Then  the  minister  says  to 
him.  See  then,  while  life  remains  in  thee,  that  thou  re- 
jjose  thy  confidence  only  in  the  death  of  Christ;  trust 
in  nothing  else;  commit  thyself  wholly  to  this  death; 
cover  thyself  wholly  with  this  alone,  mix  thyself 
wholly  with  this  death;  involve  thyself  wholly  in 
this  death.  And,  if  the  Lord  will  judge  thee,  say, 
Lord  1  cast  the  death  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ 
between  myself  and  thy  judgment;  otherwise  I  will 

*  Acts  and  Monuments,  vol.  i.  f  Anselmi.  Opera. 

Vol.  hi.  39 


302 

not  engage  in  judgment  with  thee.  And  if  he  shall  say 
to  thee,  that  thou  art  a  sinner,  say,  I  place  the  death 
of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  between  me  and  my  sins.  If 
he  shall  say  to  thee,  that  thou  hast  deserved  damna- 
tion, say,  Lord,  I  cast  the  death  of  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ  between  me  and  my  evil  deserts,  and  I  offer  his 
merits  for  that  merit,  which  I  ought  to  have  had  and 
have  not;  if  he  shall  say,  that  he  is  angry  with  thee, 
say,  Lord,  I  cast  the  death  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ 
between  me  and  thy  displeasure. 

It  cannot  be  doubted,  but  all  this  process  would  be 
mere  formality  in  the  hands  of  many  persons,  both 
pastors  and  people.  But  so,  even  at  this  day,  are  se- 
veral the  most  spiritual  catechisms,  and  the  most  evan- 
gelical exhortations.  While  the  world  is,  as  it  is,  de- 
praved and  sensual,  the  very  best  means  of  grace  will 
be  lost  on  very  many.  But  it  is  not  easy  to  conceive, 
that  he  who  composed  these  directions,  could  himself 
have  been  a  mere  formalist.  They  breathe  the  spirit 
of  one,  who  seems  to  have  felt  what  it  is  to  appear  be- 
fore the  majesty  of  God;  and  also,  how  unclean  and 
defiled  with  sin  both  his  nature  and  practice  had  been; 
and  how  unsafe  it  is  to  rest  on  any  thing  but  Christ 
crucified.  The  jewel  of  the  gospel,  peace  by  the  blood 
of  Christ  alone,  which  is  the  doctrine  that  gives  law 
and  being,  order  and  efficacy  to  all  the  other  doctrines 
of  Christianity,  is  contained  in  this  plain  catechism; 
and  the  variety  and  repetition,  which  the  author  in- 
dulges, offensive  as  they  are  in  the  light  of  criticism, 
demonstrate  the  author's  sincerity  and  zeal,  and  are 
the  natural  effect  of  the  impression,  which  had  been 
felt  in  his  o\vn  conscience.  For  those  alone,  who  have 
plowed  deep  into  the  human  heart;  have  been  truly 
serious  for  eternity;  have  been  well  practised  in  self- 
examination,  and  are  become  well  acquainted  with 
their  own  demerits;  are  disposed  to  relish  the  peculi- 
arities and  the  essentials  of  the  gospel.  Let  a  man 
once  know  himself  a  sinner  deserving  destruction,  and 
be  truly  desirous  to  become  a  new  creature,  and  he 
will  find  that  the  gospel  of  Christ  is  the  only  cordial 


303 

that  can  console  him.  This  cordial  is  here  adminis- 
tered: and  as  it  belongs  to  true  penitents  only,  to  the 
humble  and  the  contrite,  so  is  it  administered  by  the 
skilful  divine  before  us :  or,  in  other  words,  that  doc- 
trine, which  is  "  most  wholesome  and  very  full  of 
comfort,"  namely,  the  doctrine  of  justification  "  before 
God,  only  for  the  merit  of  our  Lord  and  Saviour  Je- 
sus Christ,  by  faith  and  not  for  our  own  works  or  de- 
servings,"*  is  preached  by  a  bishop  of  the  eleventh 
century.  So  strong  was  the  provision  made  by  the 
God  of  all  grace  for  the  preservation  of  evangelical 
truth  in  the  darkest  times.  With  happy  inconsistency, 
Anselm,  in  seeking  peace  to  his  conscience,  and  in 
preaching  peace  to  others,  sees  none  of  the  manifold 
superstitious  methods  with  which  the  papacy  abound- 
ed, and  which  he  himself  professed.  I  suppose  he 
would  give  some  lower  meaning  to  the  doctrine  of  the 
merits  of  saints,  and  the  efficacy  of  pilgrimages;  some 
meaning,  which  should  not  interfere  with  a  simple  ap- 
plication to  Jesus  Christ.  And  this  was  the  method  of 
many  other  pious  spirits  in  those  ages.  The  reader  is 
desired  to  observe,  however,  that  we  have  found  the 
essential  and  leading  doctrine  of  real  Christianity  in 
the  possession  of  Anselm:  and  hence,  we  are  at  no 
loss  to  account  for  the  superior  piety  and  virtue,  which 
rendered  him  the  ornament  of  the  times  in  which  he 
lived,  though  they  exempted  him  not  from  the  com- 
mon frailty  of  being  seduced  by  the  prejudices  of  edu- 
cation. The  inestimable  benefit  of  reading,  and  medi- 
tating on  the  divine  word  with  prayer,  may,  from  this 
example,  be  inferred.  Such  reading  and  meditation 
were  the  delight  and  employment  of  Anselm,  through 
life;  and  he  found  the  word  of  God  a  light  to  his  feet 
and  a  lantern  to  his  paths. 

Hence  also  it  is  not  to  be  wondered  at,  that  ne 
should  so  seriously  oppose  the  antitrinitarian  refine- 
ments of  Roscelin.  He,  who  finds  relief  to  his  own 
mind  in  the  death  of  Christ,  can  never  behold  with 
indifference  the  attacks  made  on  the  dignity  of  Christ's 

*  See  11th  article  of  religion. 


304 

person.  And  though,  in  that  rude  age,  men  had  not, 
so  commonly  as  in  our  times,  learned  to  express  a 
contempt  for  the  scriptures,  yet  there  were  those,  who 
ridiculed  and  pretended  to  argue  against  their  divine 
inspiration.  The  zeal  of  Anselm,  who  lived  for  eter- 
nity, by  faith  in  Christ,  was  induced  to  oppose  these 
attempts,  in  a  work  entitled,  "  The  Fool  Refuted."* 
The  ingenuity  and  acuteness  of  the  archbishop  were 
displayed  with  good  effect  in  this  treatise.  It  is  pro- 
per to  observe,  also,  that  this  great  man  was  the  real  in- 
ventor of  the  argument  erroneously  attributed  to  Des 
Cartes,  which  undertakes  to  prove  the  existence  of 
God  from  the  idea  of  infinite  perfection,  which  is  to 
be  found,  without  exception,  in  every  man's  mind.f 

Thus  did  Anselm  employ  himself  in  the  defence 
of  divine  truth  and  serious  religion.  His  knowledge 
of  the  scriptures  was,  I  am  persuaded,  so  sound,  and 
his  love  of  them  so  sincere,  that  if  he  had  met  with 
direct  opposition,  on  these  infinitely  momentous  sub- 
jects, from  the  court  of  Rome,  he  would  have  sooner 
pronounced  the  pope  to  be  antichrist,  than  have  parted 
with  his  evangelical  sentiments  and  profession.  But 
the  course  of  events  threw  them  into  such  circum- 
stances, that  it  became  the  temporal  interest  of  the 
court  of  Rome,  to  cherish  and  honour  the  archbishop. 

Hear  with  what  seriousness  he  expresses  his  views 
concerning  his  own  justification  before  God.  "  I  am 
conscious  that  I  deserve  damnation,  and  my  repen- 
tance suffices  not  for  satisfaction;  but  certain  it  is,  that 
thy  mercy  abounds  above  all  offences. "| 

The  works  of  this  great  prelate  are  partly  scholas- 
tical,  partly  devotional.  Taken  together,  they  demon- 
strate him  to  have  been  eminently  endowed  with  ge- 
nius and  piet)\  Like  Augustine,  whom  he  seems  to 
have  followed,  as  his  model,  he  abounds  both  in  pro- 
found argumentation  on  the  most  abstruse  and  difficult 
subjects,  and  in  devout  and  fervent  meditations  on 

*  Liber  adversus  insipientem.  See  Mac's  transl.  of  Moshejm,  vol.  i. 
cent.  si.  p.  530-  Qjiarto  edition. 

t  See  Id.  p.  483.  \  Anselm's  Meditations. 


305 

practical  godliness.  But  it  will  not  be  so  much  adapted 
to  the  purpose  of  this  history  to  analyze  his  tracts,  as 
to  give  some  detached  passages  on  matters  of  real 
christian  importance. 

In  his  treatise  on  the  reason  why  God  became  man,* 
he  says,  "  I  see  that  the  man,  whom  we  seek  as  qua- 
lified to  be  our  mediator,  must  be  of  this  description; 
he  must  not  die  of  necessity,  because  he  must  be  om- 
nipotent; nor  of  debt,  because  he  must  not  be  a  sin- 
ner; and  yet  he  must  die  voluntarily,  because  it  was 
necessary,  that  he  should  do  so,  as  mediator." — "  As 
it  is  necessary,  that  man  should  satisfy  for  the  sin  of 
man,  therefore  none  could  make  satisfaction,  but  he 
who  was  properly  man,  Adam  himself,  or  one  of  his 
race.  That  Adam  himself  could  satisfy  was  impossi- 
ble."! 

He  thus  expresses  his  admiration,  while  he  medi- 
tates on  the  power  of  the  cross.  |  "  O  hidden  forti- 
tude! that  a  man  hanging  on  the  cross  should  suspend 
eternal  death,  which  oppressed  mankind!  that  a  man, 
nailed  to  the  cross,  should  overcome  the  world,  and 
punish  its  wicked  powers  with  everlasting  destruc- 
tion. O  secret  powers!  that  a  man  condemned  with 
robbers,  should  save  men  condemned  with  devils;  that 
a  man  extended  on  a  cross  should  draw  all  things  to 
himself!  O  secret  virtue!  that  one,  expiring  in  agony, 
should  draw  innumerable  souls  from  hell;  that  man 
should  undertake  the  death  of  the  body,  and  destroy 
the  death  of  souls!" 

Speaking  of  the  humiliation  of  Christ, §  he  observes, 
"  He  assumed  poverty,  yet  lost  not  his  riches;  rich 
within,  poor  without.  God  was  latent  in  riches;  man 
was  apparent  in  poverty.  By  that  blood  we  have  lost 
the  rags  of  iniquity,  that  we  might  be  clothed  with  the 
garment  of  immortality.  Lest  we  should  not  dare  with 
our  poverty  to  approach  him,  who  has  all  riches  in  his 
hand,  he  exhibited  himself  poor;  that  is,  God  conde- 


*  Cur  Deus  homo,  Lib.  2.  c.  11.  fid.  c.  8. 

\  De  Medit.  reddente  hum,  c.  1.  $  On  2  Cor.  viji. 


scended  to  take  upon  him  our  nature.  That  man  might 
return  to  internal  riches,  God  condescended  to  appear 
externally  poor.  We  should  have  wanted  at  least  one 
proof  of  his  tender  love  to  us,  unless  he  had  taken 
upon  him  our  poverty,  and  he  himself  had  sustained, 
for  a  time,  that  indigence,  from  which  he  delivers 
us." 

The  reader,  from  these  specimens,  may  idtm  some 
idea  of  the  felicity  of  thought,  which  enabled  this  pre- 
late to  unite  practical  devotion  with  scholastic  theol- 
ogy, and  to  educe  the  most  cogent  motives  to  grati- 
tude and  pious  affections  from  those  mysterious  doc- 
trines, which  have  ever  been  esteemed,  by  wise  and 
holy  men,  the  special  glory  of  Christianity. 

The  following  thought  seems  to  throw  no  small 
light  on  some  of  the  most  sublime  ideas  of  scripture. 
He  has  his  eye  on  the  first  chapter  to  the  Ephesians. 
"  In  the  revelation  of  the  mystery  of  our  Lord's  in- 
carnation, the  angels  themselves  received  an  advance- 
ment of  dignit}^  Even  their  joy  was  increased,  when 
they  began  to  receive  men  into  their  fellowship.  Christ 
indeed  died  not  for  angels;  nevertheless,  the  fruits  of 
his  redemption,  tend  to  their  benefit.  The  enmity, 
which  sin  had  caused  between  the  angelic  and  human 
nature,  is  done  away;  and  even  from  the  redemption 
of  men,  the  loss  of  the  ancient  angelic  ruin  is  repaired. 
Thus  heavenly  and  earthly  things  are  renewed:  those, 
however,  only,  who  were  in  Christ  elected  and  pre- 
destinated before  the  foundation  of  the  world,  obtain 
this  benefit.  For  in  him  they  always  were  and  are, 
whom  God  hath  chosen  from  eternity." 

His  views  of  the  virtue  and  efficacy  of  the  sacrifice 
of  Christ  he  thus  expresses:*  "  Christ  was  made  sin 
for  us,  that  is,  a  sacrifice  for  sin.  For,  in  the  law  the 
sacrifices,  which  are  offered  for  sins,  are  called  sins. 
Hence  Christ  is  called  sin,  because  he  was  offered  for 
sin.  He  hath  blotted  out  all  sin,  original  and  actual; 
hatli  fulfilled  all  righteousness,  and  opened  the  king- 

*  On  2  Cor.  v. 


307 

tlom  of  heaven.  By  one  offering  he  perfects  for  ever:* 
for,  to  the  end  of  the  world,  that  victim  will  be  suffi- 
cient for  the  cleansing  of  ail  his  people.  If  they  sin  a 
thousand  times,  they  need  no  other  Saviour,  because 
this  suffices  for  all  things,  and  cleanses  every  con- 
science from  sin."  I  need  not  say  of  a  man  so  holy 
and  upright,  that  he  meant  not  to  encourage  sin,  while 
he  magnifies  the  savour  of  divine  peace,  through  the 
blood  of  Christ,  which  his  own  conscience  had  expe- 
rienced. 

"  Thought  all,  who  were  to  be  saved,  could  not 
be  present  when  Christ  made  that  redemption,  yet  so 
great  was  the  virtue  of  that  death,  that  its  effects  are 
extended  to  those,  who  are  absent  or  remote,  in  regard 
to  place  and  time." 

Hear  how  divinely  he  speaks  of  the  holy  Spirit  and 
his  operations.  "  The  holy  Spirit  is  evidently  declared 
to  be  God,J  because,  unless  he  were  God,  he  would 
not  have  a  temple.  He  breathed  on  them,  and  said 
unto  them,  receive  ye  the  Holy  ghost.*)  As  if  he  had 
said :  As  ye  perceive  this  breath,  by  which  I  intimate 
to  you  the  holy  Spirit,  as  spiritual  objects  are  intima- 
ted by  sensible  things,  to  proceed  from  my  body,  so 
know  that  the  holy  Spirit  proceeds  from  my  person, 
even  from  the  secret  of  my  deity."  An  interpretation 
worthy  of  him,  who  confuted  the  Greeks  in  the  article 
of  the  procession  of  the  holy  Spirit  from  the  Son.  In- 
deed every  precious  fundamental  of  Christianity  appears 
in  his  writings.  Remove  the  rubbish  of  superstition, 
and  view  the  inward  man;  and  you  see  in  Anselm  all 
that  is  vital  and  essential  in  godliness.  Nor  is  he  con- 
tent with  orthodoxy  of  sentiment:  let  us  hear  how  he 
pants  after  God,  and  learn  from  him  to  apply,  by 
prayer,  for  the  power  of  the  doctrine,  which  we  pro- 
fess. ||  Draw  me.  Lord,  into  thy  love.  As  thy  creature, 
I  am  thine  altogether;  make  me  to  be  so  in  love.  See, 
Lord,  before  thee  is  my  heart:  it  struggles;  but,  of 

*  Heb.  X.  t  B.  ii.  Cur  Deus  homo.  c.  16. 

J  On  1  Cor.  vi.  §  De  processu  spiritus,  ||  De  Meditat.  cap.  7- 


308 

itself,  it  can  effect  nothing.  Do  thou,  what  it  cannot 
do.  Admit  me  into  the  secret  chamber  of  thy  love.  I 
ask,  I  seek,  I  knock.  Thou,  who  causest  me  to  ask, 
cause  me  to  receive:  thou  givest  me  to  seek,  give  me 
to  find.  Thou  teachest  me  to  knock,  open  to  me 
knocking.  To  whom  dost  thou  give,  if  thou  deniest 
him,  who  askest?  Who  fiiids,  if  he,  that  seeks,  is  dis- 
appointed? 'J'o  whom  dost  thou  cpen,  if  thou  shiittest 
to  him,  that  knocks?  What  dost  thou  give  to  him, 
who  prays  not,  if  thou  deniest  thy  love  to  him  who 
prays?  From  thee  1  have  the  desire;  Oh,  may  I 
have  the  fruition!  Stick  close  to  him;  stick  close  im- 
portunately, my  soul.'^  Let  this  suffice  as  a  specimen 
of  those  groanings,  which  cannot  be  uttered,*  of  which 
the  breast  of  Anselm  was  conscious,  and  which,  in 
every  age  of  the  church,  have  been  known  by  the  real 
people  of  God.  These  groanings  are  too  much  ne- 
glected even  where  they  are  not  altogether  contemned 
among  men;  but  they  are  delightful  in  the  ears  of  the 
heavenly  host,  and  inferior  only  in  harmony  to  the 
praises  of  just  men  made  perfect. 

This  holy  personage  appears,  from  his  comments 
on  the  5th,  6th,  and  7th  chapters  to  the  Romans,  to 
have  understood  the  right  use  of  the  law  and  the  gos- 
pel; the  power  and  pollution  of  indwelling  sin;  its 
augmentation  in  the  heart  from  the  irritation  of  the 
law  which  forbids  evil;  and  the  real  and  solid  relief 
from  guilt,  by  the  grace  of  Jesus  Christ.  These  sub- 
jects are  well  understood,  that  is,  sufficiently  for  all 
practical  purposes,  even  by  persons,  who  have  no  pre- 
tensions to  skill  in  languages  or  criticism;  provided 
they  have  felt  the  lost  condition  of  fldlen  man,  and 
have  been  taught  by  the  Spirit  of  God,  in  an  effectual 
manner,  to  apply  the  medicine  of  the  gospel:  whereas 
they  are  altogether  hidden  from  the  wise  and  prudent 
of  this  world ;f  from  men,  who  may  possess  much 
learning  and  acuteness,  and  who  trust  in  the  strength 
of  their  own  knowledge  and  acquirements;  but' whose 

♦  Romans,  viii.  26.  f  1  Corin.  i.  19. 


309 

hearts  have  never  been  truly  humbled,  or  opened*  to 
the  reception  of  spiritual  knowledge.  The  apostle  of 
the  gentiles  was  divinely  commissioned  to  explain  the 
important  points;  and,  I  find  Anselm  to  have  known 
them  experimentally;  but.  let  it  suffice  just  to  have 
mentioned  these  things  in  this  place.  They  have  been 
copiously  illustrated  by  many  writers  since  the  refor- 
mation. So  various,  however,  and  so  abundant  was 
the  knowledge  of  Anselm  in  the  divine  life,  that  he 
wrote  with  no  less  precision  on  practical,  than  on 
mysterious  subjects.  Observe,  for  instance,  how  justly 
he  describes  the  evil  of  rash  judgment.f  There  are 
two  cases,  in  which  we  ought  to  guard  against  rash 
judgment;  first,  when  the  intention  of  him,  whom  we 
are  disposed  to  blame,  is  uncertain;  secondly,  when  it 
is  uncertain,  how  the  person  will  turn  out  in  the 
END,  who  is  the  present  object  of  censure.  A  person, 
for  instance,  refuses  to  fast,  complaining  of  his  bodily 
infirmities;  if  you,  disbelieving  him,  impute  his  refu» 
sal  to  a  spirit  of  intemperance,  you  are  guilty  of  the 
sin  of  rash  judgment.  Moreover,  though  his  gluttony 
be  unquestionably  evident,  yet  if  you  censure  him,  as 
if  his  recovery  to  holiness  were  impossible,  you  are 
guilty  of  censoriousness.  Let  us  not  then  censure 
things,  which  are  dubious,  as  if  they  were  certain; 
nor  reprehend  even  manifest  evils  in  such  a  man- 
ner, as  to  represent  them  absolutely  incurable.  Of 
uncertain  things,  those  are  most  prone  to  judge  rash- 
ly, who  take  more  delight  in  inveighing  against  what 
is  amiss,  than  in  correcting  it :  and  the  vice  of  censo- 
riousness itself  may  be  traced  up  either  to  pride  or  to 
envy." 

On  the  awful  subject  of  predestination  his  views  are 
similar  to  those  of  Augustine.  Suffice  it  to  quote  a 
single  sentence.  "  It  cannot  be  investigated  why  God 
comes  to  this  man  in  the  way  of  mercy,  to  that  in  the 
way  of  justice.  For  no  creature  can  decide,  why  he 
hath  mercy  on  this  person,  rather  than  on  that. "J 

*  Acts,  xvi.  14.  f  On  Rom.  xiv.  \  On  Rom.  si- 

Vol.  III.  40 


310 

In  his  comments  on  the  5th  chapter  of  the  epistle  to 
t^e  Romans,  he  beautifully  illustrates  the  all-important 
doctrine  of  justification  by  faith  in  Christ;  on  which 
subject  it  may  suffice  to  produce  a  single  quotation 
from  one  of  his  systematical  treatises.*  "  If,  as  it  is 
evident,  the  heavenly  city  must  receive  its  complete 
number  from  the  human  race  in  addition  to  the  angels, 
who  fell  not,  and  if  this  be  impossible,  without  a  sa- 
tisfaction made  to  the  divine  justice,  if  God  alone  can 
make  this  satisfaction,  if  man  is  bound  in  justice  to 
make  it,  it  follows,  that  the  Saviour  must  be  God- 
ttian."  So  clearly  were  the  essentials  of  salvation  dis- 
cerned, in  one  of  the  darkest  periods  of  the  church: 
and  there  is  not  an  humble  soul,  in  any  age,  who  seeks 
out  the  works  of  the  Lord  with  admiration  and  delight, 
but  he  will  join  with  the  pious  archbishop  in  his  me- 
ditation. "  The  wicked  sin,  and  the  just  are  punished; 
the  impious  offend,  and  the  pious  are  condemned;  what 
the  servant  perpetrates,  the  master  compensates;  in 
fine,  the  evil  which  man  commits,  of  that  evil  Christ 
endures  the  punishment. "f  It  would  carry  me  too  far 
to  transcribe  all  his  devout  reflections  and  meditations 
on   these   subjects.     One    remark,   however,   which 
glances  at  the  great  corruption  of  doctrine,  that  origi- 
nated  from  the  mistaken    philosophy  of    free-will,f 
should  not  be  omitted.  "  If  natural  possibility  by  free- 
will, as  the  wise  of  this  world  say,  be  sufficient  unto 
salvation,  both  for  knowledge  and  for  practice,  then 
Christ  is  dead  in  vain,  and  his  cross  is  of  none  effect. 
But   so  surely   as  human  salvation  depends  on  the 
cross,  so  surely  is  that  secular  wisdom  convicted  of 

*  Cur  Deus  homo.  b.  2.  w.  6.  f  B.  Meditat. 

\  I  have  used  the  term  free-will  in  this,  and  in  some  other  places, 
in  compliance  with  custom,  thout^h  the  expression  leads  to  a  confusion  of 
ideas  on  the  subject.  It  is  as  absurd  to  talk  of  the  freedom  of  the  will, 
as  of  the* freedom  of  liberty;  for  we  can  have  no  other  rational  idea  of 
freedom  in  men's  actions,  but  that  of  their  being  voluntary.  If  men 
act  voluntarily,  thej-  act  freel}':  responsibility  is  attached  to  what  is  vo- 
LtTNTARY,  provided  the  subject  be  of  sound  understanding.  When  men 
do  as  thej'  please,  they  are  answerable  for  their  conduct.  Tliis  is  a  simple 
state  of  the  case.  See  Locke's  Essav  on  Hum.  Und,  and  Edwards  on  Free- 


311 

iplly,  which  knows  not  the  virtue  of  the  cross,  and 
substitutes  a  phantom  of  human  merit  and  ability  in 
its  room."* 

"  We  speak  the  wisdom  of  God  in  a  mystery,"  says 
St.  Paul.  The  real  doctrine  of  salvation  needs,  therefore, 
a  stronger  light  than  the  world,  weak  and  distempered 
in  discernment  as  it  is  by  sin,  can  endure.  Hence  it 
always  appears  foolish  to  the  natural  man.  Are  we  to 
wonder,  therefore,  that  men  of  secular  wisdom  should 
despise  it?  That  they  should  call  the  ideas  of  St.  Paul, 
which  Anselm  illustrates,  jejune,  systematical,  ab- 
struse, unintelligible?  that  they  should  pronounce  the 
christian  experience,  which  has  those  ideas  for  its 
basis,  illusory,  fanatical,  and  visionary?  There  have 
not  been  wanting,  however,  men  of  sound  intellect  and 
of  solid  learning,  in  every  age,  who  have  found  the 
gospel  of  Christ  to  be  the  power  of  God  to  salvation. 
Anselm  was  one  of  these.  Amidst  the  gloom  of  super- 
stition with  which  he  was  surrounded,  he  was  yet  ena- 
bled to  describe,  and  vindicate  every  fundamental  of 
evangelical  doctrine:  though  a  papist,  he  appeals  to  the 
scriptures:  he  expounds  them,  bv  opening  the  plain, 
grammatical  sense  of  St.  Paul;  and  it  behooves  men, 
who  call  themselves  protestants,  or  who  boast  of  the 
superior  light  of  this  age,  to  confute  his  arguments,  or 
at  least  to  own  that  they  do  not  believe  the  scriptures 
to  be  divine.  If  original  sin  be  a  true  doctrine,  it  is  to 
be  expected,  that  men  leaning  to  their  own  under- 
standing, would  reject  the  doctrine  of  the  remedy  for 
a  disease,  which  they  will  not  feel.  If  the  fever  of  pride 
have  caused  men  to  lose  all  sense  of  their  fallen  condi- 
tion, ought  their  reasonings  to  be  regarded  by  those, 
who  feel  what  that  condition  is,  and  to  what  a  state  ot 
misery  sin  has  reduced  them?  If  human  powers,  by  the 
natural  exertion  of  the  will,  exclusively  of  grace,  be 
indeed  sufficient  to  guide  men  into  the  v/ay  of  salva- 
tion, then  the  principle  of  effectual  grace,  through  the 
mediation  of  Christ,  and  by  the  influence  of  the  holy 

'  On  ICnf.  :, 


312 

Spirit,  is  doubtless  unnecessary.  Let  experience  there- 
fore decide  by  the  fruits.  Schemes  and  theories  of 
doctrine,  either  wholly  or  partly  subversive  of  all  ideas 
of  grace,  have  long  been  patronized  by  persons  of 
great  celebrity  in  the  christian  world.  What  have  these 
schemes  and  theories  done  for  mankind?  Who,  among  , 
these  philosophers,  can  be  compared,  I  will  not  say  I 
with  many  protestant  divines,  but  even  with  Anselm, 
who  lived,  under  a  cloud  of  superstitious  disadvan- 
tages, in  humility,  sincerity,  piety,  charity,  and  hea- 
venly mindedness?  It  is  allowed,  even  by  his  enemies, 
that  his  life  was  in  the  right:  and  all  the  true  holiness 
of  practice,  which  has  appeared  in  the  world,  has  ever 
originated  from  such  doctrines  as  he  professed.  What 
has  been  the  consequence  of  doctrines  grafted  on  hu- 
man merit  and  ability,  but  an  inundation  of  vice  and 
wickedness?  We  have  lived,  indeed,  to  see  this  conse- 
quence exhibited  in  full  perfection  in  France.  Since 
christian  ideas  were  almost  exploded  there,  that  coun- 
try has  been  one  vast  theatre  of  all  that  is  execrable 
among  men.  Even  the  military  success  of  those  infi- 
dels has  only  propagated  misery;  and  their  triumphs, 
like  those  of  Satan,  while  they  multiply  the  calamities 
of  others,  add  only  a  fresh  accumulation  to  their  own. 
Is  it  the  same  thing  to  forbid  crimes,  as  to  prevent 
them,  ye  innovators  without  discernment?*  Is  it  the 
same  thing  to  despise  the  wisdom  of  antiquity,  as  t© 
understand  it,  ye  philosophers  without  learning? 

To  those  then,  who  will  not  lend  a  patient  ear  to 
christian  doctrine,  we  say,  it  is  divine;  it  has  proved  it- 
self so  to  be  in  every  age;  the  proofs  of  it  lie  open  before 
you,  examine,  and  confute  if  you  can.  And  among 
these  proofs  we  adduce  one  of  no  mean  importance, 

*  The  innovators  here  alluded  to,  were  continually,  in  words,  forbid- 
ding crimes,  and  e-xho/ting- citizens  to  be  orderl)',  &c.;  while,  in  fact, 
they  taught  them  to  hate  and  despise  the  true  preventives  of  crimes,  viz- 
an  effective  government,  a  strortg^  police,  and  above  all,  the  doctrine  of 
the  eternal  punishments  of  the  vvicked.  All  this  time,  the  multiplication 
of  the  most  flagitious  enormities  was  forming  a  sea  without  a  shore, 
which  at  length  swallowed  up  the  preachers  themselves.  Such  are  the 
effects  of  chimerieal  philosophy,  and  of  the  conteropt  of  ancient  wis-^ 
doni! 


313 

namely,  that  the  gospel  stands  recommended  as  the 
medicine  of  our  nature  by  its  holy  effects.  However 
you  may  dislike  it  in  its  principles,  you  must  own,  if 
at  all  attentive  to  matter  of  fact,  that  it  teaches  men  in 
real  practice  to  live  soberly,  righteously,  and  godly; 
and  that  the  farther  men  remove  from  its  system  in 
their  views  of  religion,  the  more  rampant  do  they 
grow  in  wickedness  and  immorality. 

Reflections  of  this  sort  should  teach  men  to  inquire, 
with  serious  and  humble  reverence,  both  into  the  na- 
ture and  evidences  of  Christianity;  and  persons,  who 
feel  at  all  the  force  of  these,  or  similar  observations, 
ivill  find  it  their  duty  to  pray  devoutly  for  the  divine 
influences.  In  this  spirit  of  devotion,  Anselm  excelled; 
and  a  few  quotations,  tending  to  illustrate  it,  shall 
close  this  article.  There  were  some  others  in  the 
eleventh  century,  who  lived,  and  who  wrote  in  a  simi- 
lar taste;  but  his  eminent  superiority  over  them  all, 
will  justify  me  in  omitting  the  account  of  their  works.* 

He,  who  in  the  following  manner,  breaths  out  his 
soul  in  prayer,  through  the  Intercessor  and  Mediator 
between  God  and  man,  and  so  seriously  rejects  the 
hope  of  any  other  advocate  than  the  Son  of  God,  could 
not  really  confide  in  the  virgin  Mary,  or  any  saint  or 
angel,  but  must  have  rested  in  Christ  alone,  however 
difloicult  it  may  be  to  explain  the  consistency  of  his  sen- 
timents with  the  fashionable  superstitions  of  the  times, 
the  infection  of  which  he  by  no  means  escaped  entirely. 

"  Thus,  Father  Almighty,  I  implore  thee  by  the 
love  of  thy  almighty  Son;  bring  my  soul  out  of  pri- 

*  It  may,  perhaps,  be  not  improper  to  mention  Bruno,  the  founder  of 
the  severe  order  of  Carthusians.  He  was  born  at  Cologne,  was  chancellor 
of  the  diocese  of  Rheims  and  doctor  of  divinity  there.  He  with  two  other 
canons  prosecuted  Manasses,  archbishop  of  Cologne,  for  simony,  in  1077. 
Manasses  in  a  rage,  brake  open  and  plundered  the  liousesof  the  canons,  and 
sold  their  prebends.  He  was,  however,  legally  deposed.  Bruno  was  offered 
the  vacant  archbishopric,  but  preferred  a  state^  of  solitude.  He  is  said, 
also,  to  have  refused  the  archbishopric  of  ReggSb.  Notwithstanding  the 
uncommon  austerities  of  the  order,  which  he  instituted,  he  was  obliged  to 
attend  Pope  Urban  II.  formerly  his  scholar  at  Rheims.  He  was  learned 
in  Greek  and  Hebrew,  and  versed  with  the  fathers,  particularly  Ambrose 
and  Angustine;  he  followed  the  system  of  the  latter,  concerning  grace; 
wrote  on  the  psalter,  and  St.  Paul's  epistles;  and  seems  to  h&ve  been  un- 
questionably pious  and  heavenly  minded.  See  Butler,  vol.  x. 


314 

son,  that  I  may  give  thanks  to  thy  name:  free  me  from 
the  bonds  of  sm;  I  ask  this  of  thee  by  thy  only  coeter- 
nal  Son:  and  by  the  intercession  of  thy  dearly  beloved 
Son,  who  sitteth  at  thy  right  hand,  graciously  restore  to 
life  a  wretch,  over  whom,  through  his  own  demerits, 
the  sentence  of  death  impends.  To  what  other  inter- 
cessor I  can  have  recourse,  I  know  not,  except  to  him, 
who  is  the  propitiation  for  our  sins.*^  That  the  only 
begotten  Son  should  undertake  to  intercede  for  me, 
with  the  eternal  Father,  demonstrates  him  to  be  man; 
and  that  he  should  ;8ucceed  in  his  intercession  shows, 
that  the  human  nature  is  taken  into  union  with  the 
majesty  of  the  deity. "f 

He  addresses  the  Son  of  God  as  "  the  redeemer  of 
captives,  the  saviour  of  the  lost,  the  hope  of  exiles,  the 
strength  of  the  distressed,  the  enlarger  of  the  enslaved 
spirit,  the  sweet  solace,  and  refreshment  of  the  mourn- 
ful soul,  the  crown  of  conquerors,  the  only  reward  and 
joy  of  all  the  citizens  of  heaven,  the  copious  source 
of  all  grace.  "J 

The  holy  Spirit  he  thus  addresses  in  the  same  trea- 
tise. "  Thee,  holy  Spirit,  I  implore,  if  through  my 
weakness,  I  have  a  very  imperfect  understanding  of 
the  truth  of  thy  majesty,  and  if,  through  the  concupi- 
scence of  sinful  nature,  I  have  neglected  to  obey  the 
Lord's  precepts  when  understood,  that  thou  wouldst 
condescend  to  enlighten  me  with  thy  visitation,  that 
through  thee,  whom  I  have  called  upon  as  my  succor, 
in  the  dangerous  ocean  of  life,  I  may,  without  ship- 
wreck, arrive  at  the  shore  of  a  blessed  immortality." 

Could  the  pious  spirit,  who  believes  and  longs  for 
the  rest,  which  remains  for  the  people  of  God,  express 
its  most  ardent  breathings  in  language  more  adapted  to 
lier  frame  than  the  following?  "  Hasten  the  time,  my 
Saviour  and  m}-  God,  when,  what  I  now  believe,  I 
may  see  with  eyes  uncovered;  what  I  now  hope  and 
reverence  at  a  distance,  I  may  apprehend;  what  I  now 
desire,  according  to  the  measure  of  my  strength,  J 

'  De  Vestiment.       +  Chap.  viii.  Rom.      ^  SP^<^-  Sermo  Evang.  c.  IP, 


315 

may  affectionately  embrace  in  the  arms  of  my  soul, 
and  that  I  may  be  wholly  absorbed  in  the  abyss  of  thy 
love!"* 

After  having  uttered  many  petitions, f  he  says,  *'  I 
have  asked  many  good  things,  my  Creator,  though  I 
have  deserved  many  evils.  Not  only  I  have  no  claim  on 
thee  for  these  good  things,  but  I  have  merited  exqui- 
site punishments.  But  the  case  of  publicans,  harlots, 
and  robbers,  in  a  moment  snatched  from  the  jaws  of 
the  enemy,  and  received  in  the  bosom  of  the  shepherd, 
animates  my  soul  with  a  cheering  hope."  With  so  in- 
tuitive a  glance  of  christian  faith  does  he  console  his 
soul!  It  is  in  the  same  way  that  divine  mercy  is  appre- 
hended by  all  humble  and  penitent  spirits.  The  person 
of  Christ,  and  the  doctrine  of  justification  by  him 
alone,  are  the  objects  and  supports  of  confidence  in 
God. 

•  Id.  chap.  J8.  t  B-  Medit. 


CENTURY  XII. 

CHAP.  I. 

A  General  View  of  the  Life  of  Bernard. 

A  GREAT  luminary  strikes  our  attention  at  the  en  • 
trance  of  this  century — the  famous  Bernard,  abbot  of 
Clairval.  As  the  general  scene  of  our  history  still  con- 
tinues dark  and  gloomy,  let  us  stick  close  to  the  splen- 
did object.  At  least  I  would  wish  to  exhibit  a  just  es- 
timate of  the  life,  character,  and  writings  of  this  re- 
nowned saint.  For  the  subject  may  not  only  throw  a 
considerable  light  on  the  religion  and  manners  of  this 
century,  but  will  also  illustrate  that  connexion  between 
christian  doctrine  and  practice,  which  it  is  the  princi- 
pal design  of  this  work  to  explore  from  age  to  age. 

There  was  a  time  when  Bernard  was  idolized:  his 
word  was  a  law,  while  he  lived,  throughout  Europe; 
and,  for  ages  after  his  death,  he  was  scarce  thought  to 
have  been  capable  either  of  fault  or  mistake.  But  the 
public  taste  has  long  since  deviated  into  the  other  ex- 
treme, and  it  will  behoove  me  to  say  a  few  words,  with 
a  view  to  combat  that  power  of  prejudice,  by  which 
most  minds  are  apt  to  be  carried  down  the  torrent  of 
fashion. 

Bernard  was  doubtless  a  very  ardent  champion  of 
the  popes  of  Rome;  I  mean,  of  their  office,  not  of 
their  personal  characters.  He  inveighed  against  the 
vices  of  the  men,  and  the  various  evils  of  their  ec- 
clesiastical administration.  But  he  supported  their 
pretensions  to  the  chair  of  St.  Peter,  and  opposed 
with  vehemence  all  who  withstood  those  pretensions. 
Forgive  him  this  wrong:  It  was  common  to  him 
with  the  christian  world;  and  the  German  monk,  who, 


ol  i 

four  hundred  years  after,  could  see  at  length,  though 
by  slow  degress,  the  wickedness  and  folly  of  the 
whole  established  system,  under  which  he  had  been 
strictly  educated,  has  ever  been  looked  on  as  a 
prodig}\ 

In  superstition  also,  Bernard  was  unhappily  involv- 
ed all  his  days;  it  was  the  evil  of  the  times.  His  aus- 
terities have,  with  nauseous  punctuality,  been  recited 
by  his  panegyrists.*  They  might  have  spared  their 
accounts,  as  they  themselves  confess  that  he  afterwards 
owned,  he  was  in  an  error,  both  in  injuring  his  own 
health,  and  in  exacting  too  much  of  labour  and  suf- 
ferings from  his  disciples.  Nor  is  the  sincerity  of  Ber- 
nard to  be  doubted,  either  in  his  juvenile  zeal,  or  in 
his  candid  and  frank  confession  of  his  faults,  t  He  even 
accused  himself  of  sacrilege,  because,  by  his  indiscreet 
excesses,  he  had  rendered  himself  almost  unfit  to 
serve  God  and  the  church.  And  though  the  weakness 
of  his  frame  continued  till  death,  as  the  consequence 
of  the  injuries,  which  his  body  had  received  by  his 
austerities,  he  seems  to  have  taken  some  care  of  health 
in  the  latter  part  of  his  life. 

But  the  strongest  prejudices,  which  we  are  inclined 
to  admit  against  him  in  our  times,  are  derived  from  his 
supposed  miracles,  and  from  his  real  attachment  to 
the  cause  of  the  crusades. 

In  truth,  1  was  disgusted  with  the  tedious  perusal 
of  his  miracles,  with  not  one  of  which  do  I  mean  to 
trouble  the  reader.  But  Bernard  was  canonized:  it  was 
therefore  necessary,  by  the  etiquette  of  the  Roman 
see,  that  a  saint  should  work  miracles;  and  no  wonder, 
when  the  interests  of  all  parties  concerned  were  fa- 
vourable to  fraud,  and  when  credulity  was  a  general 
evil,  that  miracles  should  be  feigned,  be  circumstan- 
tially related,  and  be  implicitly  believed.  Thus  Igna- 
tius, the  father  of  the  Jesuits,  was  said,  sixty  years 
after  his  death,  to  have  wrought  miracles;  though  in 

*  These  are  several;  the  lives  of  Eernaril,  which  they  wrote,  are  at  the 
close  of  the  2d  vol.  of  his  works;  which  are  two  folios.  I  use  the  Parisian 
edition  of  Mabillon.  f  Vol.  ii.  p.  109^. 

Vol.  IIL  41 


318 

liis  life,  published  fifteen  years  after  that  event,  no 
mention  is  made  of  any.  Our  king  Henry  III.  was  re- 
ported to  have  wrought  a  miracle  after  his  death,  at 
his  torab.  He,  also,  might  have  been  added  to  the 
Roman  calendar,  if  the  imposture  had  not  been  de- 
tected and  exposed  by  the  vigour  and  sagacity  of  his 
son  Edward  I.*  Let  Bernard,  then,  be  acquitted  of 
all  blame  on  this  head,  though  his  panegyrists,  it  must 
be  owned,  have  ^vritten  as  absurdly  concerning  him^ 
as  if  they  had  intended  to  disgrace  his  character. 

Of  the  crusades,  the  question  concerning  their  po- 
licy, is  not  the  same  thing  as  concerning  their  justice. 
In  the  beginning  of  this  century,  prodigious  armies 
marched  out  of  Europe,  to  take  possession  of  the 
holy  land;  and,  notwithstanding  the  repeated  calami- 
ties which  attended  their  progress,  the  princes  of  the 
WTst  still  persevered  in  the  attempt.  That  they  should 
single  out  Palestine  as  the  scene  of  their  military  ex- 
ploits was  fanatical  and  superstitious.  The  great  in- 
conveniences to  which  they  were  inevitably  exposed^ 
on  account  of  the  immense  distances  from  their  res- 
pective countries,  and  the  want  of  all  political  and 
prudential  wisdom  in  their  plans,  are  evident;  and,  in 
the  event,  Europe  suffered  the  punishment  of  their 
temerity  and  folly.  Add  to  this,  that  the  improvident 
waste  of  so'  much  human  blood  on  so  fantastic  an  ob- 
ject,, and  the  mixture  of  profane  wickedness  with  ab- 
surd; superstition  in  the  crusaders,  render  their  cha- 
racters, on  the  whole,  as  reprehensible  as  they  were 
ridiculous.  But  when  the  precise  question  is  asked, 
whether  they  had  a  just  cause  against  the  mahometans, 
I  cannot  decide,  with  the  genei'ality  of  modern  histo- 
rians, against  them.  Perhaps  we  have  too  hastily  ad- 
mitted the  truth  of  the  accounts,  which  infidel  writers, 
of  no  very  accurate  information,  have  given  of  the 
virtues  of  the  Arabians.  It  is  very  evident,  that  in  the 
vrars  between  them  and  the  christians,  the  rules  of 
justice  and  humanity  were  more  frequently  and  more 

'  Fqx.  B.  of  Martyrs,  vol.  i.  399. 


319 

atrociously  violated  by  the  former  than  by  tlie  latter. 
Even  the  very  degenerate  Christianity,  which  had  then 
for  ages  obtained,  produced  a  degree  of  social  virtue 
unknown  to  the  followers  of  Mahomet,  A  savage 
pride,  a  sanguinary  malice,  and  a  shameless  perfidy 
marked,  with  very  few  exceptions,  the  general  con- 
duct of  men,  whom  Voltaire,  with  insidious  candoi', 
prefers  to  their  christian  adversaries.  It  should  be  re- 
membered, that  the  mahometans  from  the  first  publi- 
cation of  the  koran,  asserted  a  divine  claim  to  univer- 
sal empire;  and,  in  their  creed,  unbelieving  nations 
are  continually  threatened  with  the  loss  of  their  reli- 
gion, their  lives,  or  at  least  their  liberties.  In  the 
eleventh  century  the  Turks,  the  successors  of  tlie 
Arabians,  both  in  regard  to  their  empire  and  their  re- 
ligion, had,  in  less  than  thirty  years,  subdued  Asia, 
as  far  as  the  Hellespont.*^  Yet  the  same  author,  who 
gives  us  this  information,  says,  the  charge  alleged 
against  tl:ie  mahometans,  of  looking  on  it  as  a  duty  to 
extirpate  all  religions  by  the  sword,  is  confuted  by  the 
koran,  by  the  history  of  the  mussulman  conquerors, 
and  by  the  toleration  of  christian  worship.  This  obser- 
vation seems  scarce  consistent  with  the  former.  To  live 
in  slavery,  under  the  mahometan  yoke,  was  all  the  in- 
dulgence granted  to  the  christians,  who  sunk  beneath 
their  arms;  and  as  they  realized  this  doctrine  at  one 
time,  even  to  the  straits  of  Gibraltar;  as  the  pilgrims 
to  the  holy  land  were  exposed  to  many  insults,  rob- 
beries, and  extortions;  as  both  Saracens  and  Turks 
acted,  from  age  to  age,  on  the  maxims  of  original 
mahometanism;  and  as,  at  length,  for  want  of  a  proper 
union  of  the  European  princes,  in  stemming  the  tor- 
rent, they  desolated  a  great  part  of  Europe  itself,  it 
seems  agreeable  to  the  law  of  nations,  to  conclude, 
that  the  christian  powers  had  a  right  to  resist  their 
ambitious  pretensions.  If  this  state  of  the  case  be  just, 
it  is  sufficient  to  vindicate  Bernard  from  the  charge  of 
iniquity,  in  encouraging  and  promoting  the  crusades. 

*  GiWjon's  Decline,  c.  58.  v.  6. 


320 

This  is  enough  for  my  purpose:  he  might,  and  he, 
doubtless,  did  mean  well  in  his  exhortations  on  this 
head;  and,  it  is  only  to  be  wished  that  the  enterprizes 
of  the  christian  princes  liad  been  conducted  on  the 
plan  of  defensive  prudence,  rather  than  of  offensive 
military  enthusiasm.  I  am  not,  however,  called  on  to 
vindicate  Bernard  as  a  politician,  but  as  a  christian. 

Bernard  was  born  at  Fontaine,  a  village  of  Bur- 
gundy, in  the  year  1091;  and  was  the  son  of  Teceli- 
nus,*  a  military  nobleman,  renowned  for  piety,  at  least 
according  to  the  ideas  of  religion  prevalent  at  that 
time.  The  same  character  is  given  of  his  mother 
'  Aleth.  She  had  seven  children  by  her  husband,  of 
whom  Bernard  was  the  third.  From  his  infancy  he 
was  devoted  to  religion  and  study,  and  made  a  rapid 
proficiency  in  the  learning  of  the  times.  He  took  an 
early  resolution  to  retire  from  the  world,  and  engaged 
all  his  brothers  and  several  of  his  friends  in  the  same 
monastic  views  with  himself.  The  most  rigid  rules 
were  agreeable  to  his  inclination:  and,  hence,  he  be- 
came a  cistertian,  the  strictest  of  the  orders  in  France. 
The  cistertiaiis  were  at  that  time  but  few  in  number: 
men  were  discouraged  from  uniting  with  them  on  ac- 
count of  their  excessive  austerities.  Bernard,  how- 
ever, by  his  superior  genius,  his  eminent  piety,  and 
his  ardent  zeal,  gave  to  this  order  a  lustre  and  a  cele- 
brity, which  their  institution  by  no  means  deserved. 
At  the  age  of  twenty-three,  with  more  than  thirty 
companions,  he  entered  into  the  monastery.  Other 
houses  of  the  order  arose  soon  after,  and  he  himself 
was  appointed  abbot  of  Clairval.f  To  those  noviti- 
ates, W'ho  desired  admission,  he  used  to  say,  "  If  ye 
hasten  to  those  things,  which  are  within,  dismiss  your 
bodies,  which  ye  brought  from  the  Avorld;  let  the  spi- 
rits alone  enter;  the  flesh  profiteth  nothing."  Strange 
advice  this  may  seem,  and  very  different  from  the 
meekness  and  facility,  which  our  Saviour  exhibited 
toward  young  disciples.  J  Nor  would  it  be  worth  while 

*  Life  of  Bernard  by  GuUelmus,  1077. 
j  Life  of  Bernard,  1085.  t  Matthew,  xiv.  9- 


321 

p^  have  mentioneci  it  at  all,  but  that  it  evinces  the  ex- 
treme disadvantages,  which  then  attended  the  pursuit 
ef  religious  knowledge,  and  the  cultivation  of  pietj. 
Yet,  amidst  all  these  disagreeable  austerities,  the  soul 
of  Bernard  was  inwardly  taught  of  God;  and,  as  he 
grew  in  the  divine  life,  he  gradually  learned  to  correct 
the  harshness  and  asperity  of  his  sentiments.  Finding 
the  novitiates  to  be  terrified  at  his  severe  declarations, 
he  used  to  preach  to  them  the  mortification  of  carnal 
concupiscence,  and  lead  them  on  with  a  mildness  and 
clemency,  which,  however,  he  did  not  exercise  toward 
himself.  He  injured  his  health  exceedingly  by  auste- 
rities, and,  as  he  afterwards  confessed,  threw  a  stumb- 
ling block  in  the  way  of  the  weak,  by  exacting  of  them 
a  degree  of  perfection,  which  he  himself  had  not  at- 
tained.  He  had  induced  all  his  brethren  to  follow  his 
example  of  retirement.  They  were  five  in  number; 
and  his  only  sister  still  remained  in  the  world,  who, 
coming  to  visit  the  brethren  in  the  monastery,  in  the 
dress  and  with  the  attendance  of  a  lady  of  quality, 
found  herself  treated  with  such  neglect,  that  bursting 
into  tears,  she  said,  "  though  I  am  a  sinner,  neverthe- 
less, for  such  Christ  died."  Bernard,  moved  with  an 
expression  so  truly  evangelical,  remitted  his  severity, 
gave  her  directions  suited  to  the  taste  of  the  age,  and, 
probably,  still  better  advice.  But  of  that  the  miserable 
writer,  whom  I  follow,  says  nothing.  External  auste- 
rities are,  as  it  were,  the  whole  of  his  theology,  and 
having  told  us,  that  Bernard's  sister  became  a  nun, 
and  resembled  her  brothers  in  piety,  he  dismisses  her 
from  his  narrative.* 

Bernard,  however,  having  reduced  himself  to  the 
greatest  weakness,  by  his  absurd  excesses,  and  being 
obliged  to  take  more  care  of  his  health,  was  humbled 
under  a  sense  of  his  folly,  and  frankly  confessed  it,  in 
the  strongest  terms.-f  He  recovered  his  strength,  and 
began  to  exert  himself,  by  preaching,  and  travelling 
from  place  to  place,  for  the  real  good  of  mankind.  It 

■  T^i   1090  ■*  W.  1094 


322 

is  wonderful  to  observe,  with  what  authority  he  reign- 
ed in  the  hearts  of  men  of  all  ranks,  and  how  his  word 
became  a  law  to  princes  and  nobles.  His  eloquence, 
indeed,  was  very  great:  but  that  alone  could  never 
have  given  him  so  extensive  a  dominion.  His  since- 
rity and  humility  were  eminent,  and  his  constant  refu- 
sal of  the  highest  ecclesiastical  dignities,  for  which  he 
was,  doubtless,  as  well  qualified  as  any  person  of  his 
time,  gave,  in  his  circumstances,  an  unequivocal  tes- 
timony to  the  uprightness  of  his  character:  I  say,  in 
his  circumstances,  for  I  would  by  no  means  insinuate, 
that  the  acceptance  of  the  highest  ecclesiastical  dig- 
nities manifests,  in  all  cases,  a  spirit  of  avarice  or  am- 
bition. The  bishoprics  of  Genoa,  Milan,  and  Rheims, 
were  among  those  which  he  refused  to  accept. 

During  a  schism,  which  happened  in  the  church  of 
Rome,  the  authority  of  Bernard  determined  both 
Lewis  VI.  king  of  France,  and  Henry  I.  king  of 
England,  to  support  the  claims  of  Innocent  II.  This 
is  one  instance,  among  many,  of  his  influence,  which 
was  employed,  in  various  negotiations,  for  the  good 
of  the  church,  as  he  thought;  but  of  which  the  detail 
is  very  foreign  to  the  views  of  this  history. 

That  which  eminently  marked  the  character  of  Ber- 
nard, amidst  the  profusion  of  honours  heaped  on  his 
character  throughout  Europe,  was  his  undissembled 
humility.  Though  no  potentate,  vi^hether  civil  or  eccle- 
siastical, possessed  such  real  power  as  he  did,  in  the 
christian  world,  and  though  he  was  the  highest  in  the 
judgment  of  all  men,  he  was  nevertheless,  in  his  own 
estimation,  the  lowest.  He  said,  and  he  felt  what  he 
said;  namely,  that  he  had  neither  the  will  nor  the  power 
to  perform  the  services,  for  which  he  was  so  much 
extolled,  but  was  wholly  indebted  to  the  influence  of 
divine  grace.  At  intervals,  from  the  employments  of 
ecclesiastical  affairs,  he  meditated  on  the  subject  of 
the  book  of  canticles.  The  love  of  Christ  toward  his 
church,  his  great  condescension  toward  it,  though 
sullied  and  dishonoured  by  sin,  the  reciprocal  aft'ec- 
tion  also  of  the  church  toward  the  divine  Saviour,  the 


323 

prelibations  of  his  love  afforded  toward  lier,  varied 
however  with  anxieties  and  interruptions,  these  sub- 
jects engaged  his  attention,  and  he  wrote  on  them  in 
that  manner,  which  experience  only  can  dictate.* 

Another  writer  of  Bernard's  life  tells  us,t  of  the 
excellent  dignitaries  of  the  church,  who  had  received 
their  education  in  the  monastery  of  Clairval.  But  as 
I  know  nothing  of  any  of  them,  except  one,  it  must 
suffice  to  mention  him,  pope  Eugenius  III.  From  a 
monk,  he  rose  to  that  height  of  ecclesiastical  dignity; 
and  he  still  practised  the  apsterities  of  the  convent,  so 
far  as  his  exalted  station  admitted;  and  we  have  yet 
extant  five  books,  addressed  to  him  by  Bernard,  writ- 
ten with  that  air  of  genuine  piety  and  sincerity,  which 
showed  that  the  abbot  was  no  respecter  of  persons. 
The  pope  himself  was  irreproachable  in  his  manners, 
continued  to  reverence  the  abbot,  was  zealous  toward 
God,  and  appears  to  have  far  excelled  the  generality 
of  popes.  For  the  worst  thing  that  can  be  said  of 
Eugenius  was,  that  he  seems  to  have  had  no  scruples' 
in  accepting  the  popedom.  But  it  is  not  for  man  to 
say,  how  great  a  quantity  of  ignorance  and  supersti- 
tion is  compatible  with  the  existence  of  genuine  piety- 
Eugenius  was  raised  to  the  pontificate  in  the  year 
1145,  and  governed  nine  years,  in  a  state  of  splendid 
misery.  For  feuds  and  factions  convulsed  his  govern- 
ment; and  he  was  obliged  to  fly  from  Rome  into 
France,  to  avoid  the  fury  of  his  enemies.  It  was  pro- 
bably a  blessing  in  the  disguise  of  afflictions,  that  he 
was  never  allowed  to  taste  the  sweets  of  power  and 
grandeur. 

Theobald,  count  of  Blois,  elder  brother  to  Stephen 
king  of  England,  was  also  much  guided  by  the  coun- 
cils of  Bernard,  and  he  was  surely  a  very  extraordina- 
ry character.  Though  a  powerful  prince,  he  lived  in 
abstemiousness,  simplicity,  and  plainness.  Nothing 
indecent  was  permitted  to  be  saidj  or  done  in  his 
presence.  His  care  and  munificence  in  relieving  the 

'-  Id.  H2.T.  t  1 127.  Life  of  Berrard,  by  Evnald.  $  Id.  1109. 


324 

afflicted  was  wonderful:  in  a  famine  he  opened  his 
storehouses  to  the  poor:  his  Hfe,  in  short,  was  devo- 
ted to  the  service  of  maokind;  and  I  hope  it  was  true 
what  Ernald  tells  us,  that  he  laid  up  treasures  above. 
But  we  must  be  content  with  details  of  external  things 
from  a  writer  who  gives  no  account  of  the  inward 
vital  godliness  of  his  heroes.  Theobald  also  had  his 
share  of  afflictions,  though  the  account  of  their  nature 
and  of  his  relief  from  them  at  last,  is  beyond  measure 
obscure. 

The  talents  of  Bernard  in  preaching  were,  doubt- 
less, of  the  first  order.  He  possessed  that  variety  of 
gifts,  which  fitted  him  either  to  address  the  great  or 
the  vulgar.  He  knew  how  to  improve  conversation  to 
salutary  purposes,  and  to  overrule  the  frivolous  tri- 
fling of  a  company  by  introducing  something  serious, 
which  yet  was  of  an  inviting  and  an  agreeable  nature. 
At  the  command  of  the  pope,  and  at  the  request  of 
other  bishops,  he  was  wont  to  preach  in  various  places; 
and  the  impressions  left  on  the  congregations,  who 
crowded  from  all  parts  to  hear  him,  demonstrated  the 
powers  of  his  eloquence.* 

The  crusade  of  Lewis  VH.  called  the  younger,  was 
supported  by  the  eloquent  voice  of  Bernard,  who  un- 
happily prevailed  to  draw  numbers  to  join  that  mo- 
narch in  his  absurd  expedition,  which  was  in  its  con- 
sequences, pregnant  with  misery  and  ruin.f  If  we  had 
no  other  apologies  for  Bernard,  than  those  very  ab- 
surd ones  suggested  by  Gaufrid,  it  must  be  confessed, 
he  would  be  totally  inexcusable.  But,  in  the  review  of 
his  works,  we  shall  have  occasion  to  hear  the  abbot 
speak  for  himself. 

*  Life  of  Bernard,  by  Gaofrid,  f  Id.  1157. 


325 


CHAP.  II. 

Bernard^ s  Defence  of  Evangelical  Truth  against 
Ahelard, 

1  HE  merits  of  the  controversy  between  these  two 
great  men,  can  scarce  be  appreciated,  without  some 
previous  review  of  the  life  and  transactions  of  the  lat- 
ter. Peter  Abelard  was  born  in  Britanny,  in  the  year 
1079.*  He  was,  doubtless,  a  man  of  genius,  industry, 
and  learning.  In  early  life,  he  was  put  under  the  tui- 
tion of  Roscelin,  an  acute  logician,  already  mentioned, 
who,  incorporating  his  philosophical  subtilities  with 
christian  ideas,  departed  from  the  simplicity  of  the 
faith,  and  was  condemned  for  tritheism,  toward  the 
close  of  the  foregoing  century. 

Abelard  needed  not  the  instructions  of  such  a  mas- 
ter, in  order  to  learn  the  arts  of  selfsufficiency.  Confi- 
dent and  presumptuous  by  nature,  elated  with  ap- 
plause, and  far  too  haughty  to  submit  to  the  simple 
truth,  as  it  is  revealed  in  scripture,  he  was,  from  the 
moment  that  he  applied  himself  to  the  study  of  the 
sacred  writings,  ardently  disposed  to  embrace  hereti- 
cal singularities.  After  he  had  appeared  in  a  very 
splendid  light  in  the  schools  of  philosophy,  and  had 
been  equally  distinguished  by  his  acuteness  and  by 
his  contentious  spirit,  he  attended  the  lectures  of  f  An- 
selm  in  divinity.  What  sort  of  lectures  they  were,  we 
are  not  told,  but  I  have  not  the  worse  opinion  of  them 
from  the  supercilious  contempt  with  which  Abelard 
spake  of  them.  He  himself  had  given  very  little  atten- 
tion to  the  sacred  books,  and  yet  very  speedily  de- 

*  I  have  bceir  obliged  to  Mr.  Berins^ton's  history  of  this  man,  for  the  ar- 
rangement of  cprtain  facts  and  cii'cumstances.  I  scarce  need  to  say,  that  I 
am  rorstrained  to  ditfer,  toto  coelo.  from  him  in  sentiments.  Nor  is  it  possi- 
ble, tl;ut  it  siioiild  be  otherwise,  where  two  persons  liave  scarce  one  com- 
raoii  p  mriple  of  theology,  in  which  they  agree. 

t  This  person  must  not  be  confounded  with  the  famous  archbishop  of 
Canterbury  of  that  name. 

Vol.  III.  42 


326 

cided  against  his  teacher,  pronounced  him  void  of 
reason  and  common  sense,  and  declared,  that,  with 
the  assistance  of  an  easy  expositor,  the  scriptures  were 
perfectly  intelligible  to  any  one,  who  had  the  smallest 
pretensions  to  literature.  "  Are  you  equal  to  the  work 
of  expounding  the  scriptures?"  said  his  companions. 
"  I  am  ready,"  said  he:  "  choose  any  book,  which  you 
please,  from  the  old  or  new  testament,  and  allow  me  a 
single  commentator."  They  instantly  fixed  on  the  most 
difficult  of  all  the  prophets,  Ezekiel.  He  studied  that 
night,  and  next  morning  declared,  that  he  was  pre- 
pared to  expound  the  prophet:  "  for  it  is  not  by  lei- 
sure," said  he,  "  but  by  energy  of  genius,  that  I  un- 
dertake to  master  the  sciences."  He  exhibited  him- 
self in  public,  lectured  repeatedly  on  Ezekiel,  and  was 
admired  by  his  ignorant  auditories. 

Hitherto  every  thing  seems  to  be  a  modern  scene. 
The  same  juvenile  confidence,  supported  by  the  same 
ignorance  of  themselves  and  the  same  depraved  na- 
ture, has  formed  many  socinian  and  pelagian  preach- 
ers and  writers  in  our  times,  who,  between  the  age  of 
twenty  and  thirty,  have  despised  the  wisdom  of  anti- 
quity, and  the  authority  of  men  most  justly  renowned 
for  good  sense,  learning,  and  holiness,  and  have  com- 
mitted themselves  to  the  direction  of  plausible  and 
presumptuous  innovators,  who  are  often  sufficiently 
artful  in  beguiling  the  unwary.  One  of  their  most  suc- 
cessful devices  is,  they  pretend  to  teach  young  stu- 
dents of  divinity  how  to  think  for  themselves.  It  is 
remarkable,  however,  that  we  very  seldom  find  any  of 
those,  who  have  gone  to  visit  the  sick  lion,  to  return 
from  his  den.  A  selfconfident  spirit  naturally  leads  the 
mind  into  opinions  the  most  daringly  subversive  of 
the  gospel,  as  well  as  into  a  course  of  life  the  most  op- 
posite to  its  precepts.  And  when  a  man  has  begun  to 
despise  the  influence  of  the  holy  Spirit,  he  is  awfully 
left  at  large  to  his  own  dark  designs,  and  to  the  crafts 
of  the  prince  of  darkness.  The  connexion  between 
doctrines  and  practice  is  close  and  exact.  He,  who 
thought  highly  of  himself,  was  easily  disposed  to  think 


327 

meanly  of  divine  grace;  and  the  best  uses  of  the  story 
of  this  miserable  man  are  these,  to  teach  youth  to  be 
modest,  and  to  inform  mankind,  whether  young  or  old, 
that  the  scriptures  should  ever  be  studied  with  rever- 
ence, humility,  and  prayer. 

Abelard  had  the  baseness  to  seduce  a  young  wo- 
man, named  Eloisa,  who  was  brought  up  in  Paris  by 
her  uncle.  The  names  of  both  these  persons  are  fami- 
liar to  those  who  have  read  our  poet  Pope,  and  it 
would  be  far  remote  from  the  plan  of  this  history,  to 
enlarge  on  scenes  of  so  flagitious  a  nature.  The  real 
principles  of  grace,  I  constantly  find,  are  alone  pro- 
ductive of  holy  practice.  He,  who  has  not  seen  the 
evil  of  sin  in  his  own  nature,  and  the  preciousness  of 
the  grace  of  Christ,  even  while  he  boasts  of  his  regard 
to  moral  virtue,  will  play  with  iniquity,  and  call  evil 
good,  and  good  evil.  The  unhappy  woman  herself 
learned  to  glory  in  her  shame,  and  professed  that  she 
thought  it  an  honour  to  become  the  harlot  of  so  re- 
nowned a  person  as  Abelard.  Sin  deceives  and  har- 
dens the  heart  incredibly;  even  holy  David,  for  a  sea- 
son, felt  its  fascinating  power,  and  nothing  less  than 
the  influence  of  divine  grace  can  subdue  it.  Blinded 
by  lust,  Abelard  and  Eloisa  felt  no  remorse  for  their 
monstrous  treatment  of  her  uncle,  whose  confidence 
they  abused,  and  whose  kindness  they  repaid  with  the 
most  vile  and  wicked  ingratitude.  In  the  mean  time, 
Abelard  studied  and  expounded  the  prophets,  and 
continued  to  preach,  not  the  Lord,  but  himself,  as  he 
had  ever  done.  Happy  had  it  been  for  the  christian 
world,  if  there  had  been  no  more  such  theologianSa 
But  thus  it  is  with  men,  who  speculate  on  religion  at 
their  ease,  and  make  it  a  vehicle  for  their  own  ad- 
vancement, honour,  and  wealth.  With  shameless  ver- 
satility, they  can  at  one  time  undertake  to  explain  the 
scriptures,  at  another  gratify  the  lusts  of  the  flesh. 
With  men  truly  serious  for  their  own  souls  it  is  not 
so:  they  may  be  slow  in  their  advances  in  christian 
science;  but  their  s'teps  are  safe;  and,  while  religion 


328 

is  by  them  brought  to  the  test  of  experience,  their 
conduct  is  preserved  in  uprightness. 

I  throw  a  veil  over  the  particulars  of  the  shameful 
story.  Suffice  it  to  say,  that,  in  the  issue,  Abelard's 
projects  of  ecclesiastical  ambition  were  disappointed, 
and  that  both  he  and  the  unhappy  woman  retired  into 
monastic  obscurity. 

Ambition  and  the  force  of  an  active  genius  soon  en- 
gaged Abelard  again  in  theological  inquiries.  Of  all 
the  ancient  fathers,  Origen  most  suited  his  taste;  and, 
mindful  of  the  instructions  of  Roscelin,  he  began  to 
philosophize  in  public  on  the  doctrines  of  the  gospel, 
and  composed,  in  three  books,  his  introduction  to 
theology;  in  which  he  attempted  to  render  the  myste- 
ries of  Christianity  more  agreeable  to  reason,  than  they 
had  been  represented  by  the  ancient  fathers.  The  tri- 
nity, in  panicuiar,  he  describes  as  a  doctrine  known  to 
the  ancient  schools  of  philosophers,  and  revealed  to 
them,  in  recompense  of  their  virtues.  This  is  certainly 
a  language  very  different  from  that  of  the  scriptures, 
which  never  mention  philosophers,  except  with  a 
view  to  guard  against  their  seductions,  and  always 
represent  their  views  as  extremely  abhorrent  from  the 
doctrines  of  the  gospel.  The  modern  historian  of  Abe- 
lard is  large  and  diffuse  in  describing  the  treatment 
which  his  hero  met  with,  but  desultory  and  indistinct 
in  the  account  which  he  gives  of  his  real  sentiments. 
He  asserts,  however,  that  Abelard  was  persecuted 
without  cause;  that  his  book  really  contained  nothing 
that  was  expressly  heterodox;  and,  while  he  positively 
and  decidedly  condemns  the  conduct  of  his  adversa- 
ries, he  gives  his  readers  no  sufficient  data,  by  which 
they  may  judge  for  themselves.  But  thus  it  is,  that 
heresy  has  ever  been  defended.  While  its  words  do 
EATAs  A  CANKER,  and  gradually  pervert  the  minds 
of  the  unwary,  every  charitable  attempt  to*  counteract 
the  poison  is  treated  as  bigotry,  illiberality,  and  fana- 
ticism. The  praise  of  good  sense  and  sound  argument 
is  considered  as  appropriate  to  the  heretic.  He,  at 
least,  is  allowed  and  encouraged  to  spread  his  doc- 


329 

trines  with  freedom,  and  to  asperse  the  orthodox  with 
the  keenest  invective;  while  all,  who  undertake  to  de- 
fend the  plain  sense  of  scripture,  ^re  stigmatized  as 
persecutors.  Scenes  of  this  nature,  have,  to  the  dis- 
grace of  human  nature,  been  renewed  from  age  to  age: 
and  so  low  and  mean  are  the  ideas  of  charity  incul- 
cated by  those,  who  call  themselves  liberal,  that  the 
real  spiritual  benefit  of  thous:inds  seems  to  them  scarce 
an  object  of  any  magnitude,  compared  with  the  per- 
sonal reputation  of  the  applauded  heretic. 

Let  us  then  endeavour  to  give,  from  the  best  evi- 
dences, a  distinct  view  of  the  leading  sentiments  of 
Abelard,  that  we  may  be  enabled  to  form  a  just  idea 
of  the  controversy,  which  at  present  engages  our  atten- 
tion. I  have  drawn  them  from  the  history  of  Alexan- 
der Natalis;*  and  the  testimonies  both  of  Abelard 
himself,  and  of  Bernard  his  opponent,  are  introduced 
into  this  account. 

1.  Abelard  distinguished  the  persons  of  the  trinity 
in  this  manner.  He  described  God  the  Father  to  be 
FULL  POWER,  the  Son  to  be  a  CERTAIN  POWER,  the 
holy  Spirit  to  be  no  power.  He  said,  "  the  Son  was 
to  the  Father  asacERTAiN  power  to  power,  as  spe- 
cies to  genus,  as  materiatum  to  materia,  as  man  to  an 
animal,  as  a  brazen  seal  to  brass." 

I  suppose,  were  I  to  translate  the  Latin  words  of 
gjL-this  passage,  for  the  sake  of  the  less  learned  reader,  1 
should  make  no  addition  to  his  stock  of  knowledge. 

2.  He  represented  the  holy  Spirit  to  have  proceeded 
from  the  Father  and  the  Son,  but  not  from  the  sub- 
stance of  the  Father  and  the  Son.  Let  this  article  pass 
as  an  unintelligible  subtilty,  if  the  reader  please.  The 
next  speaks  plainly  a  sentiment,  which  strikes  at  the 
root  of  Christianity. 

3.  He  denied  that  the  devil  ever  had  any  legal  au- 
thority over  man,  and  therefore  he  denied  that  the  Son 
assumed  flesh,  for  the  sake  of  freeing  man  from  the 
devil.  God  appeared,  said  he,  in  flesh,  for  no  other 

'  Alexand.  Nat.  12th  cert. 


end,  than  for  our  instruction  by  word  and  example^ 
nor  did  he  suffer  and  die  for  any  other  reason,  than 
to  show  and  recommend  his  love  towards  us.  I 
scarce  need  to  say,  that  this  is  the  very  essence  of 
socinianism. 

That  I  have  not  mistaken  the  meaning  of  Abelard, 
will  farther  appear  from  a  view  of  his  reasonings 
against  the  doctrine  of  atonement.  "  How  is  it  possi- 
ble, that  God  should  be  reconciled  to  us  by  the  death 
of  his  son,  since,  in  all  reason,  he  ought  to  have  been 
more  incensed  against  men  for  the  murder  of  his  son, 
than  for  the  violation  of  his  precept  by  the  eating  of 
a  single  apple?  If  Adam's  sin  could  not  be  expiated 
but  by  the  death  of  Christ,  what  expiation  could  be 
made  for  the  horrid  crime  of  murdering  Christ  him- 
self? Could  the  death  of  an  innocent  son  be  so  pleas- 
ing to  God,  that  he  would  be  reconciled  to  us  men  on 
the  commission  of  it?  Who  does  not  see,  that  it  is 
cruel  and  unjust,  that  any  one  should  require  the 
blood  of  the  innocent?  How  much  less  could  God  be 
so  pleased  v/ith  such  an  action,  as  to  be  reconciled  on 
account  of  it  to  the  whole  world?"  Thus  far  Abelard.* 
Socinians  have  never  said  any  thing  more  specious. 
To  those,  who  know  how  to  reverence  divine  wisdom, 
and  to  submit  to  the  express  word  of  God,  such  rea- 
sonings will  appear  unworthy  of  an  answer.  What  I 
am  concerned  for  at  present  is,  to  state  the  fact  that 
Abelard  was  an  heretic,  that  Bernard  did  not  accuse 
him  either  unjustly  or  precipitately,  and  that  the  as- 
sertion of  the,  historian  of  Abelard, f  namely,  that  his 
Jiero  "  was  not  guilty  of  a  single  error,"  is  altogether 
unfounded. 

It  may  be  proper  to  add,  that  Abelard,  having  set 
aside  the  scripture  doctrine  of  an  atonement,  gives  it 
as  his  opinion,  that  the  real  cause  and  design  of  Christ's 
incarnation  was,  that  he  might  illuminate  the  world 
with  the  light  of  his  wisdom,  and  inflame  it  to  the  love 
of  God. 


*  Bern.  vol.  i.  647. 

t  History  of  Abelard  and  Elolsa,  p.  278. 


331 

4.  He  affirmed,  that  the  holy  Spirit  was  the  soul  of 
the  world.  A  phrase  much  used  by  the  philosophers. 

5.  He  asserted,  that  Christ,  God  and  man,  is  not  a 
third  person  in  the  trinity,  and  that  God  is  not  pro- 
perly to  be  called  man. 

6.  That  by  freewill,  without  the  help  of  grace,  we 
can  both  will  and  perform  that  which  is  good,  in 
direct  contradiction  to  the  seventh  chapter  to  the  Ro- , 
mans. 

7.  That  in  the  sacrifice  of  the  altar,  there  remains, 
in  the  air,  the  form  of  the  former  substance. 

8.  That  not  the  fault  but  the  penalty  of  original  sin 
is  derived  from  Adam. 

9.  That  there  is  no  sin,  except  in  the  full  consent  of 
the  man,  and  that  consent  attended  with  or  implying 
a  contempt  of  God. 

10.  That  no  sin  is  committed  by  concupiscence,  in- 
ward delight  in  evil,  or  ignorance.  However  obscurely 
he  expresses  himself,  he  evidently  lessens  the  demerit 
of  sinful  thoughts. 

11.  That  diabolical  suggestions  are  made,  in  a  na- 
tural way  on  men,  by  the  contact  of  stones  and  herbs, 
as  the  sagacious  malice  of  evil  spirits  knows  how  to 
suit  the  various  efficacy  of  these  things  to  the  produc- 
tion of  various  vices. 

12.  Faith,  he  called  an  estimation  or  opinion  of 
things  not  seen.  "As  if,"  says  *  Bernard,  "  a  man 
might  think  and  speak,  in  matters  of  faith,  what  he 
pleases,  or,  as  if  the  sacraments  of  our  faith  were  not 
sure  and  certain  in  their  nature.  The  spirit  itself 
beareth  witness  with  our  spirits,  that  we  are  children 
of  God.  The  whole  object  of  faith  is  divinely  con- 
firmed by  prophecies  and  miracles,  established  and 
consecrated  by  the  incarnation,  bloody  death,  and 
glorious  resurrection  of  the  redeemer.  How  can  any 
man  give  to  so  divine  a  principle  as  the  faith  of  the 
gospel,  so  low  and  mean  a  title  as  an  opinion,  except 

*  I  anticipate  the  sentiments  of  Bernard  in  this  place:  iiioi'e  of  his  ar- 
guments against  Abelanl  will  be  given,  when  we  come  to  the  account  of 
liis  opposition  to  the  hejetic. 


332 

one,  who  hath  not  received  the  holy  Spirit,  or,  who  is 
ignorant  of  the  gospel,  or,  who  looks  on  it  as  a  fa- 
ble?" The  difference  between  divine  and  human  faith 
in  the  christian  religion  is  here  not  improperly  stated 
by  Bernard. 

13.  In  commenting  on  the  epistle  to  the  Romans, 
Abelard  thus  expresses  himself.  "  Since  the  divine 
compassion,  by  bare  intuition,  could  have  freed  man 
from  the  devil,  what  necessity,  what  reason,  or  what 
need  was  there,  that,  for  our  redemption,  the  son  of 
God  should  assume  our  nature,  should  sustain  so 
many  and  so  great  miseries,  and  the  painful  and  igno- 
minious death  of  the  cross?  To  us  the  reason  seems 
to  be  as  follows:  that  our  justification  by  his  blood 
and  our  reconciliation  to  God,  consisted  in  this  sin- 
gular grace  exhibited  to  us,  namely,  in  his  taking 
upon  him  our  nature,  and  in  his  persevering  by  word 
and  example,  even  to  death,  in  instructing  us.* 

''  Thus  he  drew  his  true  disciples  the  more  closely 
to  himself  by  love.  Our  redemption,  therefore,  consists 
in  that  great  love  excited  in  us  by  the  passion  of 
Christ,  which  not  only  frees  us  from  the  servitude  of 
sin,  but  gives  us  the  liberty  of  the  sons  of  God." 

In  another  place,  he  says,  *'  Though  our  doctors, 
since  the  days  of  the  apostles,  are  of  different  senti- 
ments, I  think  the  devil  had  no  legal  power  over  man, 
except  a  permissive  power  from  God,  as  a  gaoler,f 
nor  did  the  son  of  God  assume  flesh,  that  he  might 
free  men  from  slavery." 

14.  He  asserts,  that  fresh  continued  influences  of 
divine  grace  are  not  necessary  to  the  production  of 
every  single  good  action,  contrary  to  the  plain  sense  of 

*  Observe  liow  the  idea  of  atonement  is  excluded,  to  make  way  for 
that  of  instruction,  while  evangelical  terms  are  still  nsed.  Some  of  the 
other  articles  are  nug'atory  or  obscure:  this  is  palpably  plain,  and  of  es- 
sential importance  in  the  controversy.  In  the  same  lisfht  the  opposition, 
which  he  makes,  in  a  e"  .'at  degree,  to  the  work  of  the  holy  Spirit,  is  to 
be  considered. 

f  He  plainly  misrepresents  the  ancient  doctors;  none  of  whom  as- 
sign any  otlier  sort  of  power  to  Satan,  but,  by  this  misrepresentation,  he 
speciously  introduces  his  opposition  to  the  doctrine  of  the  atonement. 


333 

the  patable  of  the  vine  and  its  branches,  and  our  Lord's 
own  explication  of  it  in  John,  xv. 

I  might  add  also  another  sentiment  of  Abelard, 
namely,  "  that  God  does  no  more  for  him,  who  is 
saved,  than  for  him,  who  is  not  saved."  He  argues, 
that  "  if  man  be  naturally  more  prone  to  evil  than  to 
good,  his  sins  merit  no  blame;  nay,  that  *  God  him- 
self seems  blamable  for  making  him  so  weak  and 
frail."  Humble  and  intelligent  christians  know  how  to 
answer:  "  nay,  but,  O  man,  who  art  thou  that  repliest 
against  God?"  And,  moreover,  they  will,  with  great 
truth,  contend,  that  such  men  as  Abelard  ought  not  to 
complain,  that  the  character  of  humble  and  sincere 
christians  is  denied  to  them,  and  that  their  invectives 
against  their  opponents  are  not  only  unfounded,  but 
also  prove  themselves  to  be  void  of  integrity  and  can- 
dor, because  they  endeavour  to  impose  on  mankind 
by  pretending  to  be  what  they  are  not. 

On  the  whole,  it  seems  impossible,  that  a  man,  who 
had  known  any  thing  of  the  power  of  native  depravity, 
should  have  advanced  such  sentiments  as  Abelard  pub- 
lished to  the  world.  Still,  if  he  had  kept  his  thoughts 
to  himself,  or  had  even  been  a  modest  inquirer,  and 
proposed  his  doubts  for  the  sake  of  information  from 
persons  better  versed  than  himself  in  theological  in- 
quiries, his  sentiments  would  have  been  no  proper 
object  of  an  ecclesiastical  council.  But  Abelard  had 
proceeded  to  assume  the  character  of  a  teacher;  and 
what  fundamental  doctrine  of  Christianity  had  he  not 
opposed?  The  views  of  the  trinity  had  been  either 
perverted  under  his  hands,  or  confounded  with  the 
speculations  of  philosophers.  The  atonement  of  Christ, 
on  which  alone  the  hope  and  comfort  of  real  christians, 
in  all  ages,  depends,  had,  in  effect,  been  denied:  the 
efficacious  influence  of  divine  grace  had  been  asserted 
to  be,  in  many  cases  at  least,  unnecessary;  and  the 
fallen  state  of  man  by  nature  had  been  excluded  from 
his  creed.  If  he  had  renounced  the  christian  name,  at 


*  Bern.  647.  vol.  i. 

Vol.  m.  43 


334 

tlie  same  time  that  he  renounced  the  fundamental  doc- 
trines of  the  gospel,  he  would  have  merited  the  cha- 
racter of  an  honest  man;  and,  by  separating  himself 
from  christian  society,  would  have  prevented  the  weak 
and  the  unwary  from  being  imposed  on  by  his  notions- 
But  such  candor  and  frankness  seldom  belong  to  the 
character  of  heretics:  strict  truth  and  plain  dealing  in 
religious  matters  are  scarcely  to  be  expected  from  any 
but  those,  who  are  humble  before  God,  and  sanctified 
by  his  truth.  Why  Abelard  chose  still  to  call  himself 
a  christian  is  obvious;  his  schools  would  have  been 
deserted,  if  he  had  acted  openly  and  honestly.  Unless 
then  it  can  be  proved,  that  there  are  no  fundamental 
truths  of  scripture,  or,  that  all  sentiments  are  equally 
insignificant,  it  behooved  the  rulers  of  the  church,  from 
every  principle  of  piety  and  charity,  to  take  cognisance 
of  the  growing 'heresy. 

A  council  was  called  at  Soissons,  and  Abelard  M'as 
summoned  to  appear.  He  was  charged  with  tritheism, 
and  with  having  asserted,  that  God  the  Father  was 
alone  almighty.  He  was  ordered  to  burn  his  volumes, 
and  to  recite  the  symbol  of  Athanasius.  He  obeyed 
both  the  mandates,  and,  after  a  short  confinement,  was 
set  at  liberty.  I  am  not  disposed  to  approve  of  all  the 
steps  taken  by  this  council.  I  only  maintain,  that  the 
principle  of  their  proceedings  was  just  and  equitable. 
Every  person,  who  is  a  member  of  any  society,  reli- 
gious or  civil,  would  own,  if  a  similar  occasion  pre- 
sented itself,  that  he  had  a  right  to  require  the  trea- 
cherous member,  who  had  laboured  to  subvert  that 
society,  either  publicly  to  retract  his  sentiments,  or  to 
submit  to  a  decree  of  expulsion. 

But  Abelard,  in  his  own  account  of  the  transaction, 
largely  descants  on  the  iniquity  and  imperiousness  of 
the  synod.  The  acrimonious  invective,  the  airs  of  tri- 
umph on  occasion  of  little  advantages  gained  by  him- 
self in  the  course  of  the  debate,  the  shrewdness  of  his 
cavils,  and,  above  all,  the  dextrous  evasion  of  the  main 
points  on  which  the  controversy  rests,  these  things 
appear  on  the  face  of  his  narrative,  and  are  so  exactly 


similar  to  the  conduct  of  modern  heretics,  much  bet- 
ter known  to  the  world,  that  I  may  well  be  spared  the 
recital  of  them.  Moreover,  want  of  sincerity  as  well 
as  of  temper,  are  so  evident  in  the  narrative  of  Abe- 
lard,  that  his  authority  is  rendered  defective ;  and  so 
much  so,  that  we  can  lay  no  decisive  stress  on  his  tes- 
timony in  things,  with  which  his  own  character  is 
concerned.  Indeed  the  want  of  honesty  and  veracity 
appears  to  have  been  most  striking  features  in  this  in- 
genious and  learned  disputant. 

A  commentary  on  the  epistle  to  the  Romans  was 
also  published  by  Abelard,  to  which,  in  an  introduc- 
tory preface,  he  has  prefixed  an  observation  on  the 
comparative  value  of  the  gospels  and  the  epistles. 
*'  The  former,  he  thinks,  are  designed  to  teach  those 
things,  which  every  christian  ought  to  know;  the  lat- 
ter, to  inculcate  a  strict  attention  and  obedience  to 
them;  these  last,"  says  he,  "  contain  some  wholesome 
documents  and  advice,  which  though  they  appertain 
not  to  the  essence  of  belief,  may  serve  to  embellish 
the  christian  establishment,  and  to  develop  its  tenets.*' 
This  is  the  method  of  speaking,  usual  with  socinians, 
namely,  to  undervalue  the  authority  of  some  parts  of 
scripture,  compared  with  others,  as  if  holy  men  of 
God  did  not  speak,  as  they  were  moved  by  the  Holy- 
ghost,  with  equal  authority  through  the  whole  of  the 
sacred  volume.  It  is  not  necessary  to  give  any  other 
account  of  the  commentary  than  that,  which  the  reader 
may  conjecture  for  himself  from  the  view  already  stated 
of  the  leading  sentiments  of  the  author. 

Bernard,  paying  a  visit  to  the  nunnery  of  the  Para- 
clete, over  which  Eloisa  presided,  was  heard  from  the 
pulpit  by  the  abbess  and  her  nuns,  with  admiration. 
He  read  and  approved  of  their  laws  and  institutes, 
which  had  been  drawn  up  by  Abelard.  He  objected 
1^  only  to  one  phrase  in  their  repetition  of  the  Lord's 
prayer.  For  the  common  expression  daily,  in  the 
petition,  "  Oive  us  this  day  our  daily  bread,"  they 
had  been  taught  to  say,  supersubstantial  bread.  Abe- 
lard, it  seems,  had  literally  followed  the  etymology  of 


ooo 

the  Greek  word;*  seduced,  I  suppose,  by  the  aristo- 
teliaii  chimeras,  which  relate  to  substance.  The  plain 
mind  of  Bernard,  attending  to  sense  and  utility,  rather 
than  to  sound  and  glitter,  revolted  against  the  innova- 
tion ;  and,  while  he  spake  with  a  respectful  deference 
of  the  man,  and  commended  every  thing  else  relating 
to  the  nunnery,  he  expressed  his  disapprobation  of  the 
unusual  term.  When  Abelard  heard  of  it,  his  pride 
took  fire;  he  wrote  to  Bernard  a  warm  expostulation, 
and,  by  undertaking  to  show  the  superior  authority  of 
St.  Matthew  to  St.  Luke,  he  endeavoured  to  support 
the  propriety  of  the  term  supersubstantial.  Here  again 
appeared  the  socinian  mode  of  undervaluing  one  part 
of  scripture,  in  comparison  of  another.  This  is  the  first 
instance  recorded  of  an  open  altercation  between  Ber- 
nard and  Abelard.  For  I  find,  at  least,  no  decisive 
proof  of  any  opposition  made,  as  yet,  by  the  former 
to  the  publications  of  the  latter.  On  the  contrary,  Ber- 
nard was  hitherto  far  from  being  clear  in  his  own 
judgment,  concerning  the  real  theological  character 
of  Abelard;  and  of  his  caution  and  charity  we  shall 
presently  see  abundant  proofs.  The  little  story  which 
has  been  told,  is  trifling  in  its  own  nature,  if  any  thing 
can  be  called  trifling,  which  illustrates  the  human  cha- 
racter, and  displays  the  connexion  between  doctrine 
and  disposition,  which  was  never  more  apparently  ex- 
hibited than  in  the  transactions  of  Abelard. 

The  council  of  Soissons  had  been  held  in  the  year 
1121.  It  was  a  long  time  after  this,  that  Bernard  took 
any  particular  notice  of  Abelard.  Either  he  had  heard 
little  of  the  controversy,  or  had  not  thought  himself 
called  on  to  deliver  his  sentiments.  Abelard,  however, 
notwithstanding  his  retractations,  persevered  in  teach- 
ing his  heresies;  and  it  became,  at  length,  impossible 
for  his  errors  to  escape  the  observation  of  the  abbot  of 
Clairval. 

About  the  year  llb9,t  William,  abbot  of  St.  Thi- 
erry, alarmed  at  the  growing  progress  of  Abelard's 

"  Ev^vTicv.  -j-  Bern.  Opera,  vol.  i.  p.  303. 


337 

doctrine,  wrote  to  Geofry,  bishop  of  Chartres,  and  to 
Bernard,  intreating  them  to  undertake  the  defence  of 
divine  truth.  "  God  knows  I  am  confounded,"  said  he, 
"  when  I,  who  am  "  no  man,"*^  am  compelled  to  ad- 
dress, on  a  subject  of  urgent  importance,  you  and  others, 
whose  duty  it  was  to  speak,  though  hitherto  ye  have 
been  silent,  f  For  when  I  see  the  faith  of  our  common 
hope  to  be  grievously  and  dangerously  corrupted  with- 
out resistance,  and  without  contradiction,  the  faith  which 
Christ  hath  consecrated  for  us  with  his  blood,  for 
which  apostles  and  martyrs  contended  even  to  death, 
which  holy  teachers  defended  with  much  labour  and 
fatigue,  and  which  they  transmitted  entire  and  uncor- 
rupt  to  these  dregs  of  time,  I  feel  a  distress  which  con- 
strains me  to  speak  for  that  faith,  for  which  I  could 
wish  to  die,  if  it  were  necessary.  They  are  no  small 
objects  which  I  lay  before  you:  the  faith  of  the  holy 
trinity,  the  person  of  the  mediator,  the  holy  Spirit,  the 
grace  of  God,  the  sacrament  of  our  common  redemp- 
tion, are  the  subjects  which  engage  my  attention.  For 
Peter  Abelard  again  teaches  and  writes  novelties:  his 
books  cross  the  seas,  and  pass  over  the  Alps;  and  his 
new  sentiments  concerning  the  faith  are  carried  into 
provinces  and  kingdoms,  are  preached  to  crowded 
audiences,  and  are  openly  defended;  they  are  even 
said  to  have  made  their  way  into  the  court  of  Rome. 
I  say  to  you  both,  your  silence  is  dangerous,  both  to 
yourselves,  and  to  the  church  of  God;  I  tell  you,  this 
monster  is  as  yet  in  labour;  but  if  he  be  not  prevented, 
he  will  eject  a  poisonous  serpent,  for  which  no  charmer 
can  be  found. 

"  I  lately  met  with  '  The  Theology  of  Peter  Abe- 
lard.'  1  confess  this  title  made  me  curious  to  read.  I 
have  sent  you  the  books  with  my  remarks;  whether 
there  is  a  just  cause  for  my  apprehensions,  judge  ye. 
As  new  terms  and  new  ideas  disturbed  my  spirit,  and  I 
had  no  one  before  whom  I  could  freely  unbosom  my 

*  Psalm,  xxii. 

t  Hence  it  is  evident,  that  Bernard  had  not  yet  distinp^uished  hiniself  in 
this  controversy,  though  it  must  have  been  of  above  eighteen  years  stand- 
ing. A  plain  proof  of  his  caution  and  modesty. 


338 

thoughts,  I  have  apphed  myself  to  you,  and  implore  you 
todefeiidthe  cause  of  God  and  the  whole  Latin  Church. 
The  man  fears  you,  and  dreads  your  authority.  For, 
indeed,  almost  all  the  champions  of  divine  truth  being 
deceased,  a  domestic  enemy  hath  invi  led  the  de- 
fenceless state  of  the  church,  and  hath  betaken  himself 
to  a  singular  method  of  teaching;  dealing  with  scrip- 
ture, as  he  used  to  do  with  logic,  by  introducing  his 
own  inventions  and  novelties:  a  censor,  not  a  disciple 
of  the  faith;  a  corrector,  not  a  follower." 

He  then  mentions  the  heads  of  the  heresy,  which  he 
had  discovered,  and  which  were  much  the  same  as  those 
which  have  already  been  described,  and  he  promises  to 
enlarge  in  writing  on  the  same  argument,  "  with  the 
help  of  Him,  in  whose  hand  are  both  we  and  our  words; 
nor,"  says  he,  "  do  I  value  your  being  offended  at  my 
language,  provided  I  please  you  in  the  doctrine.  If  I 
can  convince  you  that  I  am  justly  moved,  I  trust  you 
also  will  be  moved,  and,  in  an  important  cause  like 
this,  will  not  fear  to  part  with  him,  though  he  be  a  foot, 
an  hand,  or  even  an  eye.  I  myself  have  loved  him, 
and  wish  to  do  so  still,  God  is  my  witness:  but  in  this 
cause  I  see  neither  relation  nor  friend." 

Bernard  read  the  book  which  William  sent,  and  re- 
turned this  answer.  "  I  think  your  zeal  both  just  and 
necessary:  that  it  was  not  idle,  the  book,  which  you 
have  sent  me,  demonstrates.  In  this  book  you  effectu- 
ally stop  the  mouths  of  gainsay ers:  not  that  I  have  gi- 
ven it  that  accurate  survey,  which  you  desire;  but  I 
own  I  am  pleased  with  it,  even  from  a  cursory  read- 
ing, and  I  think  the  arguments  solid  and  convincing. 
But  as  I  have  not  been  accustomed  to  trust  to  my 
own  judgment,  especially  in  things  of  so  great  impor- 
tance, I  believe  the  best  way  would  be  for  you  and  me 
to  meet,  and  talk  over  the  subject.  Yet  even  this,  I 
think,  cannot  be  done  till  after  Easter,  lest  the  devo- 
tions of  the  holy  season  be  distracted.  But  I  must  be- 
seech you  to  have  patience  with  me,  in  regard  to  my 
silence  on  the  subject,  since  I  was  hitherto  ignorant  of 
most,  if  not  all  the  particulars.   As  to  that  which  you 


339 

exhort  me  to,  God  is  able  to  inspire  me  with  his  good 
spirit  through  your  prayers." 

Bernard,  having,  at  length,  made  himself  master  of 
the  subject,  and,  being  impressed  with  its  magnitude, 
resolved  to  exert  himself  on  the  occasion.  He  first 
held  a  private  conference  with  Abelard,  and  admon- 
ished him,  in  a  friendly  manner,  to  correct  his  errors. 
But  this  first  attempt  being  fruitless,  he  took  two  or 
three  persons  with  him,  according  to  the  precept  of 
the  gospel;  and,  in  their  presence,  expostulated  with 
the  innovator.*  Finding  his  endeavours  to  be  unsuc- 
cessful, and  observing,  on  accurate  inquiry,  how  much 
the  evil  spread,  it  now  became  a  question  with  Ber- 
nard, whether  he  ought  to  sacrifice  the  honour  of  God 
and  the  good  of  souls  to  the  humor  of  an  artful  and 
obstinate  heretic.  As  a  conscientious  spirit,  like  his, 
was  obliged  to  decide  this  question  in  the  negative, 
and  as  he  had  sufficiently  exculpated  himself  from  the 
charge  of  personal  malice,  or  blind  precipitation,  he 
began  to  warn  the  disciples  of  Abelard  against  the 
errors  of  their  master,  and  to  guard,  as  far  as  in  him 
lay,  the  christian  world  against  the  growing  heresy. 

He  wrote  to  pope  Innocent  in  these  terms.  "  Another 
foundation  is  laid,  than  that  which  has  been  laid  for  us. 
A  new  creed  is  coined  in  France:  virtues  and  vices 
are  discussed,  not  according  to  rules  of  morality:  the 
sacraments  are  treated  unfaithfull) ;  and  the  mystery  of 
the  holy  trinity  is  investigated,  not  in  simplicity  and 
sobriety,  but  in  a  manner  contrary  to  that,  which  we 
have  received.  Our  theologian,  with  Arius  disposes 
of  the  trinity  by  degrees  and  measures;  with  Pelagius 
prefers  freewill  to  grace;  with  Nestorius divides  Christ, 
and  excludes  the  man  Christ  Jesus  from  all  connex- 
ion with  the  trinity. "t 

To  another  bishop  he  wrote  thus.  "  The  dragon 
had  been  silent  many  days;  but,  when  he  was  silent  in 
Britain,!  he  conceived  iniquity  in  France.  The  man 

*  Bern.  Opera,  vol.  i.  p.  310.  f  Id.  p.  306. 

t  He  alludes  to  the  pelag'ian  heresy,  which  had  flourislied  in  Britain. 


340 

boasts,  that  he  hath  infected  the  court  of  Rome  with 
the  poison  of  his  novelty;  that  he  hath  dispersed  his 
books  among  the  Romans:  and  he  assumes  those  as 
the  patrons  of  his  error,  by  whom  he  ought  to  be  con- 
demned. May  God  defend  that  church  for  which  he 
died,  that  he  may  present  it  to  himself,  not  having 
spot,  or  wrinkle,  or  any  such  thing. "^ 

Let  this  suffice  for  a  specimen  of  the  glowing  lan- 
guage of  Bernard;  too  vehement  perhaps,  but  surely 
kindled  by  the  fire  of  charity.  Those,  however,  alone 
can  judge  of  the  spirit  of  the  man  with  candor  and 
equity,  who  feel  the  importance  of  divine  truth. 
Humanly  speaking,  the  errors  of  Abelard,  aided  by 
the  propensities  of  our  depraved  nature,  might  in  a 
silent  and  gradual  manner  have  pervaded  all  Europe, 
and  the  propagation  of  socinianism  might  have  been 
matured  six  centuries  ago,  if  the  mischief  had  not 
been  thus  vigorously  opposed. 

In  the  archiepiscopal  city  of  Sens,  a  superstitions 
ceremony,  namely,  the  translation  of  a  saint's  body 
into  the  cathedral  church  was  to  be  performed  in  the 
year  1140.  Abelard,  incensed  at  the  open  and  repea- 
ted opposition  of  Bernard,  challenged  him  to  make 
good  his  charges  of  heresy  at  this  solemn  assembly. 
Undoubtedly  he  proceeded  regularly  in  the  formality 
of  the  challenge.  For  he  implored  the  archbishop  of 
Sens  to  cite  his  accuser  before  the  assembly,  and  pro- 
mised to  meet  him.  The  archbishop  wrote  to  Bernard 
accordingly,  and  named  the  day  on  which  he  should 
expect  to  see  him.  Bernard  seems  to  have  been  con- 
siderably embarrassed  at  this  step.  His  good  sense 
enabled  him  to  see  the  diiference  between  popular 
preaching,  and  close  scholastical  argumentation.  He 
had  been  habituated  to  the  former;  with  the  latter  he 
was  unacquainted:  and,  he  knew  that  Abelard  excel- 
led all  men  in  the  arts  of  controversy,  in  which  also 
age  and  experience  would  give  him  a  great  advantage 
over  a  young  antagonist.  Bernard,  therefore,  at  first 

*  Id.  307. 


341 

refused  to  appear.  ''  I  was  but  a  youth,"  says  he,  in 
his  own  account  of  this  matter,  ''  and  he  a  man  of  war 
from  his  youth.*  Besides,  I  judged  it  improper  to 
commit  the  measures  of  divine  faith,  which  rested  on 
the  foundations  of  eternal  truth,  to  the  petty  reason- 
ings of  the  schools.  I  said,  that  his  own  writings  w^re 
sufficient  to  accuse  him,  and  that  it  was  not  my  con- 
cern, but  that  of  the  bishops,  to  decide  concerning  his 
tenets." 

Elated  at  the  apparent  pusillanimity  of  Bernard, 
Abelard  collected  his  friends,  spake  in  a  strong  tone 
of  victory,  and  appealed  to  many  concerning  the  justice 
of  his  cause.  "  What  things  he  wrote  of  me  to  his 
scholars,"  says  Bernard,  "  I  love  not  to  relate.  He 
took  care  to  spread  the  news  every  where,  that  he 
would  answer  me  at  Sens  on  the  day  appointed.  I 
yielded,  however,  though  with  tears  and  much  reluc- 
tance, to  the  advice  of  my  friends.  They  saw  that 
all  men  were  going,  as  it  were,  to  the  spectacle,  to 
behold  the  combatants.  What  would  they  say,  if  one 
of  them  did  not  appear?  The  people  would  stumble,  the 
adversar}^  would  triumph,  and  error  would  grow 
stronger,  if  none  should  appear  to  answer  and  to  con- 
tradict. Moved  by  these  reasons,  I  determined  at 
length  to  meet  Abelard  at  the  time  and  place,  with  no 
other  preparation  than  that  scripture  promise,  do  not 
premeditate,  how  you  may  answer;  for  it  shall  be 
given  you  in  that  same  hour  what  ye  shall  say;  and 
that  other,  the  Lord  is  my  helper,  I  will  not  fear  Avhat 
man  can  do  unto  me."! 

The  assembly  was  splendid.  Lewis  VIL  was  there 
with  his  nobles;  the  archbishop  with  the  bishops  of  his 
diocese,  many  abbots,  professors,  and  in  general  all 
the  learned  of  France  were  present. 

The  superstitious  ceremony  being  perforiTied  on 
the  first  day,  on  the  second  the  two  abbots  appeared, 
and  every  eye  was  fixed  on  them.  The  whole  assem- 
bly was  suspended  in  expectation  of  the  contest.  Ber- 

M'l.p.  181.  flfl 

Vol.  ITT.  U 


342 

nard  arose,  and  in  a  modest  and  diffident  manner, 
declared;  "  I  accuse  not  this  man;  let  his  own  works 
speak  against  him.  Here  they  are,  and  these  are  the 
propositions  extracted  from  them.  Let  him  say,  I 
wrote  them  not,  or  let  him  condemn  them,  if  they  be 
erroneous,  or  let  him  defend  them  against  my  objec- 
tions." He  then  delivered  the  charges  to  the  promoter, 
who  began  distinctly  to  read  them.  He  had  not  read 
far,  when  Abelard  arose.  "  I  appeal,"  said  he,  "  to 
the  pope,"  and  refusing  to  hear  any  more,  began  to 
leave  the  assembly.  The  assembly  was  astonished 
at  the  unexpected  step.  "  Do  you  fear,"  said  Ber- 
nard, "for  your  person?  you  are  perfectly  secure: 
you  know  that  nothing  is  intended  against  you:  you 
may  answer  freely,  assured  of  a  patient  hearing."*  "I 
have  appealed  to  the  court  of  Rome,"  cried  the  ap- 
palled heretic,  and  withdrew. 

Bernard,  in  writing  the  account  of  these  transactions, 
to  the  pope,  gives  it  as  his  opinion,  that  the  procedure 
of  Abelard  was  unjustifiable,  to  appeal  from  judges, 
of  whom  he  had  himself  made  choice. f 

If  the  issue  of  the  conference  between  these  two 
renowned  antagonists  has  been  such  as  to  disappoint 
the  reader's  expectations,  something,  however  divine- 
ly instructive,  may  be  learned  from  the  narrative.  I 
know  nothing  in  Bernard's  history  more  decisively- 
descriptive  of  his  character,  than  his  conduct  in  this 
whole  transaction.  By  nature,  sanguine  and  vehement; 
by  grace  and  self  knowledge,  modest  and  diffident,  he 
seems,  on  this  occasion,  to  have  united  boldness  with 
timidity,  and  caution  with  fortitude.  It  was  evidently 
in  the  spirit  of  the  purest  faith  in  God,  as  well  as  in 
the  most  charitable  zeal  for  divine  truth,  that  he  came 
to  the  contest;  while  Abelard,  who,  presumptuous 
through  a  long  course  of  scholastic  honours,  came 
elated  and  selfconfident,  drooped  in  the  very  crisis, 
which  called  for  his  eloquence  and  resources.  His 
courage  seems  to  have  failed  him;  or,  did  the  con- 

*  Viata  Bern.  v.  il.  p.  1138.  f  Id.  183. 


343 

sciousness  of  real  heresy  make  him  incapable  of  stand 
ing  before  a  distinct  and  orderly  examination?  At  any 
rate,  the  humble  was  exalted,  and  the  proud  was  dis- 
graced, according  to  the  maxims  of  the  gospel;  and 
the  conduct  of  the  men  was  a  precise,  counterpart  of 
the  doctrines  which  they  severally  espoused. 

The  bishops  of  France  wrote  to  the  pope  an  account 
of  the  procedure;  and,  in  their  words,  I  shall  recite 
the  little  that  remains  to  be  mentioned  of  the  acts  of 
the  assembly. 

Having  given  an  account  of  the  conduct  of  Bernard, 
perfectly  agreeable  to  that  which  we  have  heard  from 
the  abbot  himself,  they  observe,  that  "  he  certainly  ap- 
peared at  Sens,  inflamed  with  pious  fervour,  nay,  un- 
questionably with  the  fire  of  the  holy  Spirit."*  And 
they  proceed  as  follows:  "  As  Abelard's  sentiments 
were  read  over  and  over  in  public  audience,  and  as 
the  arguments  of  Bernard,  partly  built  on  the  most 
solid  reasons,  partly  on  the  authorities  of  Augustin 
and  other  holy  fathers,  convinced  the  synod,  that  the 
tenets,  which  he  opposed,  were  not  only  false,  but 
also  heretical,  we,  sparing  the  man  out  of  deference 
to  the  apostolic  see,  condemned  the  opinions.  We  in- 
treat  you  to  confirm  our  decrees,  and  to  impose  si- 
lence on  the  author  of  the  books,  in  order  to  prevent 
the  pernicious  consequences  with  which  his  errors  may 
be  attended." 

In  what  manner  Bernard  disproved  the  tenets  of 
Abelard  before  the  council,  may  be  judged  from  the 
following  brief  review  of  his  long  epistle  to  the  pope,  f 

"  The  new  theologist  of  France  is  one,  who  scorns 
to  be  ignorant  of  any  thing  in  heaven  above,  or  in 
earth  below;  to  one  point  only,  himself  and  his  own 
ignorance,  he  is  perfectly  blind.  While  he  is  prepared 
to  give  a  reason  for  every  thing,  he  presumes  things 
above  reason,  and  contrary  both  to  reason  and  to  faith. 
We  ought  to  consider,  that  Mary  is  recommended, 
because  she  prevented  reasoning  by  faith, :j:  and  that 

•  p.  3111.  +  Bern.  vol.  i.  p.  650  \  Luke,  i.  38. 


344 

Zachariah  was  punished,  because  he  tempted  a  faith- 
ful God  by  reasonings.  Abraham  also  is  extolled,  who 
believed  in  hope  against  hope." 

But  our  theologist  says,  "  what  does  it  profit,  if, 
what  we  teach,  cannot  be  rendered  intelligible?"  Thus 
promising,  perfectly  to  explain  mysterious  things,  he 
places  degrees  in  the  trinity,  measures  in  the  divine 
majesty,  and  numbers  in  eternity.  In  the  very  entrance 
on  his  work,  he  defines  faith  to  be  "  an  estimation  or 
an  opinion."  But  christian  faith  has  no  such  limits. 
Let  estimation  and  opinion  belong  to  the  academics, 
whose  character  it  is  to  doubt  of  all  things;  to  know 
nothing.  I  shall  follow  the  sentiments  of  the  apostle 
of  the  gentiles,  and  know  that  I  shall  not  be  con- 
founded. His  definition  of  faith,  I  own,  is  agreeable 
to  me:  Faith  is  the  substance  of  things  hoped  for; 
the  evidence  of  things  not  seen.  Substance  of  things 
hoped  for;  not  a  fancy  of  empty  conjectures.  The 
idea  of  substance  is  connected  with  something  certain 
and  fixed.  Faith  is  not  estimation,  but  certainty.  I 
shall  not  dwell  upon  a  number  of  nugatory  specula- 
tions, in  which,  while  he  labours  to  make  Plato  a 
christian,  he  makes  himself  a  pagan.  I  come  to  more 
weighty  matters.  I  have  read  in  a  certain  book  of  his 
sentences,  and  in  his  exposition  of  the  epistle  to  the 
Romans,  that  he  holds  an  original  sentiment  concern- 
ing the  mystery  of  our  redemption;  namely,  that  the 
ancient  doctors  were  unanimous  in  their  mode  of  in- 
terpretation concerning  the  subject,  that  they  all  held 
in  such  a  manner;  but,  that  he  holds  in  a  different 
manner.  And  art  thou  he,  who  constructest  for  us  a 
new  gospel?  Thou  hast  discovered,  it  seems,  that  the 
son  of  God  did  not  assume  flesh,  that  he  might  free 
man  from  the  devil.  Let  them  give  thanks,  says  the 
psalmist,  whom  the  Lord  hath  redeemed  from  the 
hand  of  the  enemy.*  This  thou  wouldst  not  deny,  if 
thou  wert  not  under  the  power  of  the  enemy.  Thou 
canst  not  give  thanks  with  the  redeemed,  who  art  not 

*  Ps.  c^i.  & 


345 

tliyself  redeemed.  That  man  seeks  not  for  redemption, 
who  knows  not  himself  to  be  a  captive.  But  those,^ 
who  do  know,  cry  to  the  Lord ;  and  the  Lord  hears 
them,  and  redeems  them  from  the  hand  of  the  enemy. 
Hear  an  apostle:  "  If  God,  peradventure,  may  give 
them  repentance  to  the  acknowledging  of  the  truth, 
and  that  they  may  recover  themselves  out  of  the  snare 
of  the  devil,  who  are  taken  captive  by  him  at  his 
will."*  Hearest  thou,  at  his  will,  and  dost  thou 
deny  the  power  of  the  devil.  Hear  the  Lord  himself. 
He  is  called  by  him  the  prince  of  this  world,!  ^^^^  the 

STRONG     MAN     ARMED,     AND     THE     POSSESSOR     OF 

goods; I  and  dost  thou  say,  that  he  has  no  power  over 
men?  This  power  of  Satan  was  known  to  him,  who 
said,  "  who  delivered  us  from  the  powers  of  darkness, 
and  translated  us  into  the  kingdom  of  his  dear  son.  "§ 
Let  him  learn,  therefore,  that  the  devil  has  not  only 
power,  but  a  just  power  over  men.  Though  the  devil 
himself,  who  invaded  us,  is  not  just;  but  God,  who 
exposed  us  to  him,  is  just. 

Man  was  then  justly  enslaved,  but  mercifully  de- 
livered: with  such  mercy,  however,  that  justice  ap- 
peared even  in  his  deliverance.  For  what  could  man 
do  of  himself,  to  recover  lost  righteousness,  being  now 
a  bond  slave  of  the  devil?  Another's  righteousness  ih 
therefore  assigned  to  him,  who  had  lost  his  own.  The 
prince  of  this  world  came,  and  found  nothing  iit 
Christ;  II  and,  when  he  still  would  lay  violent  liands  oi; 
the  innocent,  most  justly  he  lost  the  captives,  whont 
he  possessed;  and  that  Being  upon  whom  death  had 
no  just  claim,  having  injuriously  suffered  the  pains  of 
death,  by  this  voluntary  submission  justly  freed,  from 
the  debt  of  death,  and  from  the  dominion  of  the  devil, 
him  who  was  legally  obnoxious  to  both.  Man  was 
the  debtor:  man  also  paid  the  debt.  For,  if  one  died 
for  all,  then  were  all  dead, If  that  the  satisfliction  of  one 
might  be  imputed  to  all,  as  he  alone  bore  the  sins  of 
a^l;  and  now  he,  who  offended,  and  he,  who  satisfi- 

•  2  Tim.  ii.  25.  f  John,  xiv.  30.  \  Luke,  xi.  21 . 

^  Coloss.  J*    }"  ||  John,  xiv   "0.  •;  2  Cor.  v.  15 


346 

ed  divine  justice,  are  found  the  same;  because  the 
head  and  the  body  is  one  Christ.  The  head  then  sa- 
tisfied for  the  members,  Christ  for  his  own  bowels; 
since,  according  to  St.  Paul's  gospel,  which  fully  con- 
futes the  error  of  Abelard,  God  hath  quickened  us  to- 
gether with  him,  who  died  for  us,  having  forgiven  us 
all  trespasses,  blotting  out  the  handwriting  of  ordi- 
nances, nailing  it  to  his  cross,  and  spoiling  principali- 
ties and  powers.*  May  I  be  found  among  those  spoils 
of  which  adverse  powers  are  deprived!  If  I  be  told, 
your  father  enslaved  you,  I  answer,  my  brother  hath 
redeemed  me.  Why  may  not  I  have  another's  righte- 
ousness imputed,  since  I  have  another's  sin  imputed 
to  me?  Is  there  sin  in  the  seed  of  the  sinner,  and  not 
righteousness  in  the  blood  of  Christ?  As  in  Adam  all 
die,  so  in  Christ  shall  all  be  made  alive.  The  fault 
has  truly  laid  hold  of  me,  but  grace  has  also  visited 
me.  If  the  judgment  was  by  one  to  condemnation, 
the  free  gift  was  of  many  offences  to  justification. f 
Nor  do  I  fear,  being  thus  freed  from  the  powers  of 
darkness,  to  be  rejected  by  the  father  of  lights,  since 
I  am  justified  freely  by  the  blood  of  his  son.  He,  who 
pitied  the  sinner,  will  not  condemn  the  just.  I  call 
myself  just,  but  it  is  through  his  righteousness.  For 
Christ  is  the  end  of  the  law  for  righteousness, J  and 
he  is  made  of  God  for  us  righteousness.^  Thus  is 
man  made  righteous  by  the  blood  of  the  redeemer; 
though  Abelard,  this  man  of  perdition,  thinks  this  the 
only  use  of  his  coming;  namely,  to  deliver  to  us  good 
rules  of  life,  and  to  give  us  an  example  of  patience 
and  charity.  Is  this  then  the  whole  of  the  great  mys- 
tery of  godliness,  which  any  uncircumcised  and  un- 
clean person  may  easily  penetrate?  What  is  there  in 
this  beyond  the  common  light  of  nature?  But  it  is  not 
so:  for  the  natural  man  receiveth  not  the  things  of  the 
spirit  of  God;  II  thou  hast  hid  these  things  from  the 
wise  and  prudent;  If  and,  if  our  gospel  be  hid,  it  is  hid 
to  them,  that  are  lost.**  He  asks,  had  the  devil  domi- 

*  Coloss.  ii.  13.  f  Rom.  v.  16.  :j:  Rom.  x.  4. 

§  1  Cor.  i.  30.         !!  1  Cor.  ii.         H  Matt.  xi.  25.       **  2  Cor.  iv.  o. 


347 

nion  over  Abraham  and  the  other  elect?  No;  but  he 
would  have  had,  if  they  had  not  been  freed  by  faith  in 
him  that  was  to  come.  As  it  is  written,  Abraham  be- 
lieved God,  and  it  was  imputed  to  him  for  righteous- 
ness; and  Abraham  rejoiced  to  see  my  day;  he  saw  it, 
and  was  glad.  It  was  the  blood  of  Christ,  which  dis- 
tilled, as  the  dew  on  Lazarus,  in  the  parable,  that  he 
should  not  feel  the  flames  of  hell,  because  he  believed 
on  him,  who  was  to  suffer.  We  must  believe  of  all 
the  elect  of  that  time,  that  they  were  born,  as  we  are, 
under  the  powers  of  darkness,  but  were  thence  de- 
livered before  they  died;  and  that  only  by  the  blood 
of  Christ. 

He  asks,  why  so  tedious  and  painful  a  mode  of  de- 
liverance, since  Christ  could  have  effected  it  by  a  mere 
volition?  Who  affirms  that  the  Almighty  was  limited 
to  this  mode?  But  the  efficacy  of  this  method,  which 
he  preferred  to  all  other  possible  ones,  is  surely  de- 
monstrable from  that  very  preference :  and,  perhaps, 
its  excellence  may  hence  appear,  that  the  grievous 
sufferings  of  our  redeemer  afford  us  an  admonition 
of  the  strongest  and  most  impressive  nature  concern- 
ing our  own  fallen  and  miserable  condition.  But  no 
man  knows,  nor  can  know  to  the  full,  what  precious 
benefits,  what  wisdom,  what  propriety,  what  glory  the 
unsearchable  depth  of  this  mystery  contains  in  itself. 
But,  though  we  may  not  search  out  the  mystery  of 
the  divine  will,  we  may  feel  the  effect  of  its  execu- 
tion, and  reap  the  fruits  of  its  goodness:  and  what  we 
may  know,  we  ought  not  to  conceal.  When  we  were 
yet  sinners,  we  were  reconciled  to  God  by  the  death 
of  his  son.  Where  reconciliation  is,  there  is  remis- 
sion of  sins.  In  what  then  lies  remission  of  sins?  This 
cup  is  the  new  testament  in  my  blood,  which  is  shed 
for  you,  for  the  remission  of  sins.*  Why  by  blood, 
say  you,  what  he  might  have  done  by  a  bare  word? 
Ask  God  himself.  I  may  know  that  it  is  so:  \\'hy  it  is 
so,  I  may  not.  Shall  the  potter  say  to  him,  that  formed 
him,  why  hast  thou  made  me  thus? 

*  Li'.ke,  xxii.  ?(i 


348 

Strange,  says  he,  that  God  should  be  reconciled  to 
men  by  the  death  of  his  son,  which  ought  to  have  in- 
censed him  the  more  against  them.  As  if  in  one  and 
the  same  transaction,  the  iniquity  of  wicked  men  might 
not  displease,  and  the  piety  of  the  sufferer  please  God. 
What,  says  he,  can  expiate  the  guilt  of  the  murder  of 
Christ,  if  nothing  less  than  that  murder  could  expiate 
the  sin  of  Adam?  We  answer  briefly,  that  very  blood 
which  they  shed,  and  the  intercession  of  him,  whom 
they  slew.  Not  simply  the  death,  but  the  voluntary 
obedience  unto  death  of  the  redeemer  was  well  plea- 
sing to  God;  of  the  redeemer  I  say,  who  by  that  death 
destroyed  death,  wrought  salvation,  retrieved  inno- 
cence, triumphed  over  principalities  and  powers,  re- 
conciled all  things  in  heaven  and  in  earth,  and  restored 
all  things.  And  because  this  precious  death,  which 
was  to  be  spontaneously  undergone,  could  not  take 
place  but  through  the  sin  of  men,  he,  not  delighted 
indeed  with  their  wickedness,  but  taking  occasion 
from  it  to  execute  the  purposes  of  his  own  benevo- 
lence, by  death  condemned  death.  This  blood  was 
able  to  expiate  the  guilt  which  shed  it,  and  therefore 
left  no  doubt  of  its  expiating  the  first  original  sin.  In 
answer  to  his  tragical  complaints  of  the  cruelty  of  this 
dispensation,  we  say,  God  did  not  thirst  for  blood, 
I)ut  for  salvation,  which  was  to  be' effected  by  blood. 
Salvation  we  say,  and  not  as  he  writes,  the  mere  dis- 
play of  love,  and  the  exhibition  of  useful  instruction 
and  a  powerful  example.  For  what  avails  instruction 
without  recovery?  How  useless  the  finest  lessons,  un- 
less the  body  of  sin  be  destroyed  in  us!  At  this  rate 
t!ie  whole  harm  of  Adam's  sin  lies  in  the  exhibition 
of  an  evil  example,  since  the  medicine  must  be  adap- 
ted to  the  quality  of  the  wound.  For,  if  we  be  chris- 
tians and  not  pelagians,  we  must  confess  the  sin  of 
Adam  to  be  derived  to  us,  and  by  sin  death;  and  that 
righteousness  is  restored  to  us  by  Christ,  not  by  in- 
struction, but  by  regeneration;  and  by  righteousness 
life;  that,  as  by  the  offence  of  one  judgment  came  upon 
all  men  to  condemnationj  even  so,  by  the  righteous- 


349 

ness  of  one,  righteousness  came  upon  all  men  to  jus- 
tification of  life.*  If,  as  he  says,  the  design  of  the 
incarnation  was  illumination,  and  a  powerful  incentive 
to  love,  we  may  own  these  things  came  from  Christ; 
but,  from  whom  came  redemption  and  deliverance? 

As  far  as  in  him  lies,  he,  who  attributes  the  glory 
of  redemption  not  to  the  cross  of  Christ,  but  to  our 
proficiency  in  holy  conversation,  renders  void  and  of 
nope  effect  the  mystery  of  the  divine  dispensation. 
But  God  forbid,  that  I  should  glory  save  in  the  cross 
of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  in  whom  is  our  salvation, 
life,  and  resurrection. 

I  see,  indeed,  three  capital  objects  in  this  work  of 
our  salvation,  the  form  of  humility  by  which  the  son 
of  God  made  himself  of  no  reputation,  the  measure  of 
love  which  he  extended  even  to  the  death  of  the  cross, 
and  the  mystery  of  redemption,  in  which  he  suffered 
death.  The  two  former,  exclusive  of  the  latter,  are  as  if 
you  painted  on  a  vacuum.  Great  and  necessary  indeed 
was  the  example  of  humility;  great  and  worthy  of  all  ac- 
ceptation, was  the  example  of  his  charity;  but  remove 
redemption,  and  these  have  no  ground  to  stand  upon. 
I  would  follow  the  humble  Jesus,  I  desire  to  embrace 
with  the  arms  of  love  him  who  loved  me,  and  gave 
himself  for  me;  but — I  must  eat  the  Paschal  Lamb. 
Unless  I  eat  his  flesh  and  drink  his  blood,  I  have  no 
life  in  me.  It  is  one  thing  to  follow  Jesus,  another  to 
embrace,  another  to  feed  upon  him.  To  follow,  is 
wholesome  counsel;  to  embrace,  is  solemn  joy;  to  feed 
upon  him,  is  an  happy  life.  For  his  flesh  is  meat  in- 
deed, and  his  blood  is  drink  indeed.  The  bread  of 
God  is  he  that  cometh  down  from  heaven,  and  gi\'eth 
life  to  the  woj-ld.f  What  room  is  there  for  counsel  or 
for  joy,  without  life?  they  are  mere  pictures  and  sha- 
dows, without  a  solid  ground  and  substance.  There- 
fore, neither  examples  of  humility,  nor  displays  of 
charity,  are  any  thing  without  redemption." 

If  the  reader  has  attentiv^ely  considered  the  argu- 


•  Rom.  V.  18.  t  Joli".  vi. 

Vol..  Ill  45 


350 

meiits  of  iVbelarcl,  unci  the  answer  of  Bernard,  he  has 
seen  what  weight  ought  to  be  laid  on  a  fashionable 
sentiment  of  this  day,  namely,  that  in  consequence  of 
the  improvements  in  reasoning  and  philosophy,  a  per- 
son is  now  capable  of  expounding  the  scriptures  much 
better  tlian  the  ancients  could  do.  If  the  observation 
be  supposed  to  be  applicable  to  the  essential  doctrines 
of  salvation,  I  ask,  how  docs  this  appear  to  be  the 
case?  In  subjects  of  human  art  and  science,  indeed, 
ncAv  discoveries  may  be  expected;  but  with  what  per- 
tinency can  the  remark  be  applied  to  divinity?  The 
whole  system  of  divine  truth  is  not  more  perfectly  re- 
vealed now  than  it  was  seventeen  hundred  years  ago. 
The  scriptures  are  the  same:  common  sense  is  the 
same:  the  influence  of  the  holy  Spirit  is  the  same:  and 
human  wants  are  the  same:  and  if  men  search 
and  pray  in  humility  and  seriousness;  if  they  cry 
clfter  knowledge,  and  lift  up  their  voice  for  under- 
standing; if  they  seek  her  as  silver,  and  search  for 
her  as  for  hid  treasures,  what  is  there  to  hinder 
them  from  understanding  the  fear  of  the  Lord,  and 
finding  the  knowledge  of  God,  in  one  age  as  well  as  in 
another?*  Is  not  God  said  to  be  willing  to  show,  in 
the  ages  to  come,  the  exceeding  riches  of  his  grace, 
in  his  kindness  toward  us  through  Christ  Jesus?f  And 
will  any  man  say,  that,  in  some  particular  periods,  he 
is  not  willing  to  unfold  these  inestimable  riches?  It  is 
not  to  be  denied,  but  that  by  skill  in  learned  languages, 
by  study,  and  by  general  cultivation  of  the  human 
mind,  much  light  may  be  thrown  on  several  doubtful 
passages  of  holy  writ:  their  connexion  and  meaning 
ma}'  be  rendered  clearer,  and  so  far  improvements  may 
be  made  in  the  interpretation  of  scripture;  but  when 
this  is  admitted,  we  must  still  maintain  that  no  new  dis- 
coveries are  to  be  expected  in  regard  to  the  essential 
and  fundamental  truths  of  divine  wisdom  and  holiness, 
and  to  these  truths  this  whole  remark  is  exclusively 
<:onfincd.  These,  wherever  the  Bible  cai"i  be  had  in  an 

*  Piov.  i!  -  Eph.  ii.  7. 


351 

intelligible  language,  seem  to  lie  open  to  the  view  of 
all  humble  and  serious  inquirers  in  every  age.  What 
can  modern  socinianism  say  more  than  Abelard  has 
done?  And  does  not  Bernard  answer  it  in  the  same 
manner  as  evangelical  divines  do  now?  Even  in  the 
darkness  of  the  twelfth  century  \ve  have  seen  the  light 
as  clear  and  full  in  the  main,  as  it  can  be  at  this  day. 
Old  errors  maj^  be  revived  and  dressed  up  anew,  but 
they  are  the  same  errors  still.  Even  the  praise  of  ori* 
ginal  genius  will  be  denied  to  the  modern  heretic,  b}^ 
him,  who  carefully  investigates  antiquity.  The  whole 
circle  of  human  sciences,  however  they  be  cultivated 
and  improved  in  our  days,  can  add  nothing  to  the 
stock  of  spiritual  understanding.  In  every  age  God 
has  not  been  wanting  to  his  church;  and  divine  trutli 
has  ever  appeared  the  same,  and  has  brought  forth  the 
same  holy  fruits  in  those,  who  fear  God,  and  believe 
the  gospel  of  his  son. 

I  shall  not  now  need  to  give  an  abstract  of  the  other 
letters,  which  Bernard  wrote  on  this  occasion.  In 
them  all  he  sees  the  true  ground  of  Abelard's  errors. 
While  this  heretic  undertook  to  comprehend  all  that 
God  is,  by  mere  human  reason,  while  nothing  seemed 
to  escape  his  penetration  either  in  heaven  above  or  in 
the  depth  beneath,  he  was  totally  ignorant  of  himself. ^f^ 
He  was  ignorant  of  nothing,  but  of  himself,  t  Such  is 
the  language  of  Bernard,  concerning  him,  while  he 
cautions  the  pope  and  other  dignitaries  of  the  Roman 
church  against  the  seductions  of  heresy,  and  informs 
them  how  much  i\belard  presumed  on  the  expectation 
of  finding  patrons  at  Rome,  where  his  books  had  been 
dispersed,  j 

The  influence  of  Bernard's  labours  in  this  cause  on 
the  minds  of  the  christian  world  was  very  great,  and 
decisively  defeated  the  designs  of  the  enemy.  Gaufre- 
dus,  one  of  the  writers  of  Bernard's  life,  observes: 
"  Blessed  be  God,  who  gave  tons  a  better  master,  b^ 
whom  he  confuted  the  ignorance  of  the  former,  and 

*  Vol.  I.  p.  184,  185.  U86.  4  Vol.  I.  312- 


352 

quashed  his'  arrogance,  by  whom  Christ  exhibited  to 
us  three  special  objects  in  his  sufferings,  an  example 
of  virtue,  an  incentive  of  love,  and  a  sacrifice  of 
redemption."*" 

Roused  by  the  exhortations  of  Bernard,  the  pope 
pronounced  a  definitive  sentence  against  Abelard,  or- 
dered his  works  to  be  burned,  and  the  heretic  to  be 
confined  in  some  monastery,  at  the  discretion  of  the 
leaders  of  the  council,  which  had  condemned  his  doc- 
trine. We  have,  however,  better  authority  than  that  of 
the  pope  for   pronouncing  his  sentiments  heretical. 
And  though  the  decisions  of  the  pope  deserve  no  at- 
tention from  christians,  it  was  matter  of  sincere  pleasure 
to  all,  who  loved  the  souls  of  men,  that  Abelard  was 
stripped  of  the  power  of  doing  mischief.  As  for  the 
rest,  he  was  treated  with  as  great  lenity  as  the  nature  of 
ecclesiastical  government  at  that  time,  which  was  cer- 
tainly absurd  and  arbitrary  in  many  respects,  would 
admit.   He  was  permitted  to  end  his  days  in  the  mo- 
nastery of  Cluni,  over  which  Peter  the  venerable  pre^ 
sided,  who  treated  him  with  much  compassion  and 
friendship.  An  interview  was  also  promoted  by  the 
good  natured  offices  of  Peter,  and  of  another  abbot, 
between  the  two  champions,  the  particulars  of  which 
are  not  known.  Only  it  appears,  that  Bernard  declared 
himself  satisfied  with  Abelard's  orthodoxy.  I  suppose 
the  latter  would,  in  conversation,  retract,  or  soften,  or 
explain  his  thoughts  in  the  same  manner  as  he  did  in 
an  apology,  which  he  published  at  this  time.  But  the 
reader  remembers,  that  this  was  not  the  first  time  of 
his  submitting  himself  to  the  judgment  of  the  church. 
Whether  he  was  sincere  or  not,  it  belongs  not  to  man 
to  determine.  The  charity  of  Bernard,  however,  is  in- 
contestable, because  he  dropped   the   accusation,  as 
soon  as  Abelard  had  ceased  to  vent  heretical  senti- 
ments. Not  personal  malice,  but  christian  zeal  seems 
to  have  influenced  the  abbot  of  Clairval  in  this  whole 
transaction. 

'^  Vol.  ii.  1074. 


35S 

h'  it  be  asked,  what  benefit  resulted  from  the  scene, 
which  we  have  reviewed?  it  is  answered,  either  Abe- 
lard's  retraction  was  sincere  or  not.  If  the  former,  the 
advantage  was  great  to  the  heretic  himself;  if  the  lat- 
ter, he  doubtless  added  hypocrisy  to  his  other  crimes, 
though  he  was  prevented  from  making  himself  acces- 
sory to  the  ruin  of  others.  But  the  guilt  of  h3^pocris)' 
was  properly  and  solely  his  own.  If  his  opponents  con- 
tracted any  guilt  on  the  account,  it  would  be  unlawful 
to  oppose  error  at  all,  for  fear  of  possible  consequences. 
To  this  I  add,  that  the  benefit  resulting  to  the  whole 
church  for  ages,  is  unquestionably  evident;  a  conside- 
ration worthy  the  attention  of  those,  who,  in  their  chari- 
ty for  single  heretics,  seem  to  forget  the  mercy  and 
charity  due  to  the  souls  of  thousands.  Abelard,  how- 
ever, continued  after  these  events  in  quiet  obscurity 
till  his  death,  which  took  place  in  the  year  1142. 

Eloisa  survived  this  extraordinary  man  many  years. 
Their  correspondence  still  remains,  and  I  have  exa- 
mined it  with  a  view  to  discover,  whether  there  be  any 
evidences  of  genuine  conversion  in  the  unhappy  cou- 
ple. That  they  were  sorry  for  their  past  follies  is  cer- 
tain; that  the  latter  part  of  their  lives  was  outwardly 
decent  and  regular  is  no  less  evident;  but  of  real  re- 
pentance, genuine  faith  in  Christ,  and  the  true  love  of 
God,  I  cannot  discern  any  satisfactory  proofs. 

I  have  now  enabled  the  reader,  by  an  orderly  state 
ment  of  facts,  to  decide  for  himself  what  candor  and 
justice  there  is  in  the  declaration  of  a  learned  historian, 
that  *'  Bernard  misunderstood  some  of  the  opinions  ot 
Abelard,  and  wilfully  perverted  others.  For,"  conti- 
nues he,  "  the  zeal  of  this  good  abbot  too  rarely  per- 
mitted him  to  consult,  in  his  decisions,  the  dictates  of 
impartial  equity;  and  hence  it  was,  that  he  almost  al- 
ways applauded  beyond  measure,  and  censured  Avith- 
out  mercy."*  Wilful  perversions,  and  by  a  good  man 
too!  what  inconsistency  of  language!  Or  is  Bernard 
called  a  good  man  ironically?  Or  did  this  writer  feel  a 

*  Mosheiin,  p,  601 .  vol  i,  quarto. 


354 

sympathy  with  one  of  these  great  men,  and  an  antipa- 
thy to  the  other?  Certainly,  whoever,  like  Bernard, 
defends  the  real  truth,  as  it  is  in  Jesus,  with  the  simpli- 
city of  a  christian,  even  though  he  preserve  modesty, 
caution,  and  charity,  must  expect  no  mercy  from  the 
criticisms  of  men  more  zealous  for  the  honour  of  what 
they  improperly  call  rational  religion,  than  for  that  of 
Jesus  Chriat.  The  world  will  love  its  own:  the  car- 
nal mind  is  enmity  against  God;  and  he,  who  in 
charity  supports  evangelical  truth,  and,  under  God,  is 
made  wise  to  win  souls  to  real  humility  and  holiness, 
shouldcommit  himself  to  him  that  judgeth  righteously, 
and  patiently  wait  his  decision. 

If  Mosheim  do  not  altogether  deserve  the  censure 
implied  in  these  observations,  undoubtedly  he  is  not 
to  be  acquitted  of  uncharitableness,  temerity,  and 
selfsufficiencv. 


CHAP.  III. 

Controversies  of  Bernard  ivith  several  other  real  or 
supposed  Heretics.   Some  Account  of  the  Cathari. 

oO  great  was  the  esteem  of  Bernard  throughout  the 
western  churches,  that  no  characters  of  eminence  in 
the  religious  world  arose,  but  he  was  looked  up  to  as 
a  judge  to  decide  concerning  their  merits.  It  happened, 
that  he  had  not  always  the  same  means  of  accurate 
information,  as  in  the  case  of  Abelard;  and  hence  there 
is  reason  to  believe,  that  he  treats  as  heretics  some 
persons,  who  were  "  the  excellent  of  the  earth."  I 
shall  throw  together  into  this  chapter  the  best  infor- 
mation, which  I  can  collect,  concerning  these  mat- 
ters. At  any  rate  we  shall  find  some  light  concerning 
the  real  church  of  Christ. 

Gillebert  de  la  Porree,  bishop  of  Poitiers,  possessed 
of  a  subtile  genius,  and  indulging  a  taste,  like  that  of 
Abelard,  undertook  to  explain  the  mystery  of  the 


355 

trinity,  by  some  curious  distinctions  and  refinements. 
Offence  was,  however,  given  by  his  publications,  and 
the  zeal  and  eloquence  of  Bernard  were  employed  in 
confuting  him  by  public  disputation.  I  shall  not  at- 
tempt to  explain  this  controversy.  It  seems  to  have 
originated  from  the  metaphysical  spirit  of  Gillebert, 
whose  chief  fault  appears  to  have  been,  that  he  was 
not  content  with  plain  truth,  and  with  stopping  there 
in  liis  inquiries,  where  the  scripture  does.  The  trinity 
in  unity,  received  indeed  in  the  simplicity  of  scrip, 
ture,  is  one  of  the  clearest,  as  well  as  one  of  the  most 
decisively  scriptural  doctrines  in  the  world;  and  so  it 
has  always  appeared  to  those,  who  believe  what  is 
revealed,  and  who  are  content  to  be  ignorant  of  the 
MANNER  how  the  Father,  the  Son,  and  the  Holyghost 
are  three  in  one.  But,  though  there  seems  no  positive 
evidence  of  the  heresy  of  Gillebert,  the  council  of 
Rheims  condemned  some  of  his  propositions,  which 
were  of  a  dangerous  nature.  Gillebert  recanted  them: 
Bernard  candidly  expressed  his  belief  of  the  sincerity 
of  the  recantation^  and  the  bishop  of  Poitiers  was  al- 
lowed to  return  to  his  bishopric* 

I  have  examined  the  sentiments  of  Gillebert,  and 
cannot,  I  own,  form  any  determinate  conception  of 
their  nature.  He  wandered  in  the  misty  region  of  ab- 
struse metaphysics,  and  seems  both  to  have  lost  him- 
self, and  to  have  been  unintelligible  to  his  readers. 
Bernard  endeavoured  to  stop  the  mystic  inquirer  in 
his  career;  and  this  was  no  unprofitable  employment; 
but  again  Mosheim  is  displeased  with  the  conduct  of 
the  abbot,  and  seems  to  intimate,  that  he  himself  un- 
derstood the  opinions  of  Gillebert,  and  that  Bernard 
did  not,^  \vhen  he  says,  "  these  refined  notions  were 
far  above  the  comprehension  of  good  St.  Bernard, 
who  was  by  no  means  accustomed  to  such  profound 
disquisitions,  to  such  intricate  researches."!    Does 

*  Bern,  vol.ii.  p.  1138.   Du  Pin's  12th  cent,  cliap.  viii. 

f  Quarto,  vol.  it.  p.  602.  As  Mosheim's  work,  translated  by  Maclain, 
is  lai-  better  known  than  the  original  in  England,  I  always  quote  the  for - 
raer,  and  would  be  understood,  both  here  ami  cL^cv.heie,  to  n^cv  to  that 
rather  than  to  the  latter 


356 

Mosheim  really  mean  what  he  says,  or,  is  the  epithet 
good,  synonymous  with  weak  and  ignorant?  Bernard 
was,  however,  with  the  critic's  leave,  a  man  of  sound 
understanding  and  of  true  wisdom;  and,  if  it  were 
worth  while,  I  could  easily  furnish  the  reader  with 
such  specimens  of  Gillebert's  subtilities,  as  would 
fully  justify  the  account  given  of  him  at  the  begin- 
ning of  this  chapter. 

If  to  oppose  the  popedom  with  vigor  and  fortitude 
be  in  itself  a  certain  criterion  of  a  real  christian,  Ar- 
nold of  Brescia  may  justly  be  ranked  among  the  most 
eminent  saints.  But  the  spirit  and  views  of  an  innova- 
tor should  be  known,  that  we  may  determine,  whether 
he  deserve  the  character  of  a  reformer.  In  Arnold, 
the  spirit  of  an  old  Roman  republican  was  united  with 
the  theological  sentiments  of  a  socinian.  He  was  the 
disciple  of  Abelard,  and  was  in  action  as  daring  as 
that  heretic  had  been  in  speculation.  Bernard  vehe- 
mently opposed  his  designs,  and  while  he  allowed  his 
morals  to  be  decent  and  regular,  he  guarded  the  chris- 
tian world  against  his  ambition  and  secular  artifices. 
The  conduct  of  Arnold  demonstrated,  that  Bernard 
penetrated  into  the  real  character  of  the  man.  For  the 
disciple  of  Abelard,  having  gained  over  at  Rome  a 
large  party  to  his  views,  by  his  address  and  dexterity 
stirred  up  a  sedition  against  the  pontiff;  during  the 
violence  of  which,  private  houses  were  burned;  the 
property  of  the  clergy  and  nobles  was  plundered;  the 
pope  was  driven  from  Rome;  and,  in  general,  the  civil 
government  was  disordered  and  convulsed.  Flushed 
with  success,  Arnold  planned  a  scheme  for  the  restora- 
tion of  the  forms  of  the  old  republic:  but  providence 
favoured  not  his  designs.  In  the  end  he  was  seized 
and  burned,  and  his  ashes  were  thrown  into  the  Tiber. 
His  case  demonstrates,  that  to  oppose  what  is  esta- 
blished, however  great  be  the  abuses  or  faults  of  an 
establishment,  is  an  uncertain  criterion  of  character. 
What  is  it,  which  men  really  mean  to  substitute  in 
the  room  of  that  government,  which  is  established? 
This   is  a  question  to  which  every  man,  who  fear.^ 


357 

God,  should  seriously  attend,  before  he  suffer  himself, 
by  countenancing  innovations,  to  introduce  anarchy 
and  confusion.  Here  Arnoldof  Brescia  failed  entirely.* 

Tanchelin  in  Flanders,  and  Peter  de  Bruys,  with 
his  disciple  Henry,  in  France,  were  also  famous  inno- 
vators in  this  century.  The  first  appears  to  have  been 
altogether  so  worthless  and  extrayagant  a  person,  that 
I  shall  not  detain  the  reader  a  moment  concerning  his 
character,  or  his  actions.  Nor  can  I  give  such  an  ac- 
count of  the  others,  as  is  very  satisfactory  to  my  own 
mind.  They  were  both  treated  as  heretics:  they  both 
made  many  converts  to  their  sentiments;  and  were 
condemned  by  the  then  reigning  powers.  Peter  wa^ 
burnt  to  ashes,  and  Henry  was  put  under  a  confine- 
ment, in  which  he  seems  to  have  ended  his  days.  Peter 
of  Cluny,  from  whose  writings  we  have  the  most  copi- 
ous account  of  the  former,  doubtless  a  man  of  a  mild 
and  moderate  temper,  charges  Peter  de  Bruys  with 
atrocious  excesses,  and  represents  him  as  support- 
ing his  tenets  by  violence  and  sedition. f  The  tes- 
timony against  the  moral  character  of  Henry  is  still 
more  peremptory.  For  Bernard  charges  him  with 
scandalous  impurities  of  practice,  and  refers  to  such 
proofs  and  circumstances,  as  might  have  led  to  a  de- 
tection of  the  charges,  if  he  had  indeed  been  innocent. 
And  it  was  very  much  by  the  authority  of  Bernard, 
that  the  credit  and  party  of  Henry  Avere  sunk  in  the 
christian  world.  J 

These  men,  however,  bore  a  striking  testimony 
against  the  predominant  corruptions  of  the  church. 
The  superstitious  rites,  with  which  the  primitive  cus- 
tom of  infant  baptism  was  now  disgraced,  naturally 
gave  a  strong  plausibility  to  their  arguments  in  favour 
of  adult  baptism  exclusively.  They  protested  also 
against  the  extravagant  sumptuousness  of  churches, 
the  adoration  of  relics  and  images,  and  against  masses, 
prayers  for  the  dead,  and  transubstantiation.  It  is  not 

*  Bern.  p.  1H7,  kc.  vol.  i.  Berington's  Abelard,  p.  .301,  &c 
t  Du  Pin's  Heretics,  12  cent.  Berington.  Abel, 
t  Vol.  i.p.  238.  Vol.  ii.  1139. 

Vol.  hi.  46 


358 

worth  while  to  discriminate  with  minute  accuracy, 
what  were  the  tenets  of  Peter,  and  what  v\'ere  those  of 
Henry.  With  no  great  difference  from  one  another, 
they  descanted  on  the  topics  just  mentioned;  they 
loudly  inveighed  against  the  papal  and  clerical  abomi- 
nations, under  which  Europe  groaned  at  that  time, 
and  provoked  a  storm  of  vengeance,  which  proved 
their  ruin.  If  we  may  judge  from  the  accounts  of  their 
lives,  (and  they  are  very  scanty  and  confused,)  these 
men  seem  to  have  been  rather  bad  citizens  than  here- 
tics. The  darkest  circumstance  relating  to  their  cha- 
racter is,  that  they  seem  not  to  have  been  so  clear  and 
explicit  in  describing,  what  they  approved,  as  what 
they  condemned.  Satire  and  invective  are  plants  of 
rapid  and  easy  growth  in  the  malignant  soil  of  human 
nature.  Men  of  the  greatest  licentiousness,  both  in 
sentiments  and  practice,  can  discover  and  display,  with 
sufficient  ability,  the  evils  of  popery.  It  belongs  only 
to  souls  truly  humbled,  and  well  informed  in  scrip- 
tural principles,  to  erect  in  its  room  the  edifice  of  real 
evangelical  truth  and  holiness;  and  I  wish  I  could 
show  the  reader  that  Peter  and  Henry  performed  this 
in  any  degree. 

But  though,  among  the  supposed  heretics  of  this 
century,  we  have  failed  in  attempting  to  discover  any 
particular  leaders,  who  carry  the  unquestionable  marks 
of  real  christians,  yet  that  there  must  have  been  some 
who  were  really  such,  is  evident,  from  the  considera- 
tion, that  there  certainly  were  opposers  of  the  church 
of  Rome  at  this  time,  who  deserve  the  name  of  Pro- 
testants.* The  writer  to  whom  I  have  already  been 
indebted  for  some  evidence  of  this  nature,  particularly 
in  the  account  of  Claudius  of  Turin,  has,  with  singu- 
lar learning  and  industry,  illustrated  this  part  of  eccle- 
siastical history,  and  seems  to  have  consulted  the  very 
best  monuments  and  records.  It  would  be  tedious  to 
follow  him  through  the  mazes  of  a  scene  beyond  ex- 
pression obscure  and  perplexed.  Nor  can  I  depend  on 

•*  Allix  on  the  ancient  churches  of  Piedmont,  p.  139 — 183 


359 

the  attempts  which  he  has  made  to  class  and  distin- 
guish his  protestant  sects.  The  accusation  of  mani- 
cheism  was  commonly  brought  against  them  all;  nor 
will  I  venture  to  say,  that  every  christian  sentiment 
or  practice  which  he  describes,  belongs  to  any  one 
particular  body  of  people.  Those,  who  have  conversed 
with  different  denominations  of  christian  professors, 
know  how  difficult  it  is  to  explain  the  various  ramifi- 
cations of  parties,  which,  nevertheless,  all  seem  to 
spring  from  one  root:  they  are  aware,  also,  how  fre- 
quently it  happens,  that  those,  who  are  only  superfici- 
ally acquainted  with  the  sectaries,  and  have  noticed 
some  external  agreement,  will  hastily  suppose  persons 
to  belong  to  the  same  class,  when,  in  reality,  they  are 
quite  opposite  in  spirit;  and  lastly,  they  have  observed, 
that  a  disagreement  in  externals  by  no  means,  in  all 
cases,  implies  an  opposition  of  sentiments.  Christian 
professors  may  differ  in  these  lesser  matters,  and  may 
even  suspect  the  soundness  of  one  another's  princi- 
ples, merely  for  want  of  mutual  intercourse,  when,  in 
substance  and  in  all  essentials,  they  are  the  same  peo- 
ple. Elaborate  attempts  to  explain  the  several  peculi- 
arities and  discriminations,  for  want  of  proper  evi- 
dence, have  often  darkened  this  subject,  instead  of 
elucidating  it.  The  worst  consequence  of  such  at- 
tempts is,  that  by  the  mixture  of  good  and  evil,  which 
runs  through  such  accounts,  where  the  leading  ves- 
tiges of  Christianity  are  all  along  kept  out  of  view,  the 
reader  can  scarce  discern  any  true  church  of  Christ  to 
have  existed  at  all.  How  shall  we  conduct  ourselves 
through  this  labyrinth?  By  laying  down  from  the  best 
authorities  the  real  marks  of  godliness,  which  existed 
among  the  various  sects  of  professing  christians.  If 
this  can  be  done,  the  reader  will  find  that  the  presence 
of  God  has  been  among  them,  however  difficult  it  be 
to  define  the  limits  of  the  church  of  Christ  by  human 
artificial  distinctions.  This  I  shall  attempt  to  do  in  the 
case  before  us,  omitting  those  things  which  are  foreign 
to  the  design  of  this  histor}'. 

Evervinus  of  Steinfield,  in  the  diocese  of  Cologne, 


360 

wrote  to  Bernard,  a  little  before  the  year  1140,  a  let- 
ter preserved  by  Mabillon  concerning  certain  heretics 
in  his  neighbourhood.*  He  was  perplexed  in  his 
mind  concerning  them,  and  wrote  for  a  resolution  of 
his  doubts  to  the  renowned  abbot,  whose  word  was  a 
law  at  that  time  in  Christendom.  Some  extracts  of  this 
letter  are  as  follows.  "  There  have  been  lately  some 
heretics  discovered  among  us  near  Cologne,  though 
several  of  them  have,  with  satisfaction,  returned  again 
to  the  church.  One  of  their  bishops  and  his  compa- 
nions openly  opposed  us  in  the  assembly  of  the  clergy 
and  laity,  in  the  presence  of  the  archbishop  of  Co- 
logne, and  of  many  of  the  nobility,  defending  their 
heresies  by  the  words  of  Christ  and  the  apostles. 
Finding  that  they  made  no  impression,  they  desired 
that  a  day  might  be  appointed  for  them,  on  which 
they  might  bring  their  teachers  to  a  conference,  pro- 
mising to  return  to  the  church,  provided  they  found 
their  masters  unable  to  answer  the  arguments  of  their 
opponents,  but  that  otherwise  they  would  rather  die, 
than  depart  from  their  judgment.  Upon  this  declara- 
tion, having  been  admonished  to  repent  for  three  days, 
they  were  seized  by  the  people  in  the  excess  of  zeal, 
and  burnt  to  death;  and,  what  is  very  amazing,  they 
came  to  the  stake,  and  bare  the  pain,  not  only  wuth 
patience,  but  even  with  joy.  Were  I  with  you,  father, 
1  should  be  glad  to  ask  you,  how  these  members  of 
Satan  could  persist  in  their  heresy  with  such  courage 
and  constancy,  as  is  scarce  to  be  found  in  the  most  re- 
ligious believers  of  Christianity?" 

It  cannot  be  denied,  that  the  reigning  corrpptions 
both  of  faith  and  practice,  from  the  times  of  Gregory 
the  second  and  third,  distinguished  by  real  idolatry, 
had  rendered  the  pretence  of  uniformity,  considered 
as  a  mark  of  the  church,  intirely  unsound.  In  these 
circumstances  then,  the  appeal  to  a  fair  and  open 
course  of  scriptural  argument  was  not  unreasonable: 
the  refusal  of  this  appeal,  and  the  requisition  of  an  un- 

*  Allix,  churches  of  Piedmont,  p.  140. 


361 

qualified  submission  made  to  the  supposed  heretics, 
was  unchristian:  and,  if  neither  in  the  general  course 
of  their  lives,  nor  in  their  behaviour  on  this  occasion, 
there  was  any  thing  arrogant,  deceitful,  or  turbulent; 
and  Evervinus  charges  them  with  nothing  of  the  kind; 
the  patience  and  joy  of  their  martyrdom  may  seem  to 
have  arisen  from  the  consideration,  that  God  was  with 
them.  But  Evervinus  goes  on:  "  their  heresy  is  this: 
they  say,  that  the  church  is  only  among  themselves, 
because  they  alone  of  all  men  follow  the  steps  of 
Christ,  and  imitate  the  apostles,  not  seeking  secular 
gains,  possessing  no  property,  following  the  pattern  of 
Christ,  who  was  himself  perfectly  poor,  and  did  not 
allow  his  disciples  to  possess  any  thing."  Doubtless 
they  carried  this  point  too  far:*  for,  rich  christians  are 
charged  to  be  rich  in  good  works,  willing  to  distri- 
bute, apt  to  communicate:!  these  are  precepts,  which 
suppose  that  the  possession  of  opulent  property  is 
not  incompatible  with  the  character  of  a  true  chris- 
tian. The  error  is,  perhaps,  natural  enough  to  those 
real  good  men,  whose  habits  and  prejudices  are  chief- 
ly of  the  vulgar  sort;  and  I  would  hence  infer,  that 
these  supposed  heretics  were  mostly  of  the  low- 
er class  of  people.  God  seems  to  have  had  a  peo- 
ple among  them,  who  detested  the  Romish  abomina- 
tions, and  who  served  him  in  the  gospel  of  his  son. 
They  appear,  however,  to  have  had  no  learned  persons 
among  them  capable  of  doing  justice  to  their  charac- 
ters. We  must  take  these  from  the  accounts  of  ene- 
mies. Evervinus  proceeds:  "  Ye,  say  they  to  us, 
join  house  to  house,  and  field  to  field,  seeking  the 
things  of  this  world;  so  that  even  those,  who  are  look- 
ed on  as  most  perfect  among  you,  namely,  those  of 
the  monastic  orders,  though  they  have  no  private 
property,  but  have  a  community  of  possessions,  do 
yet  possess  these  things.  Of  themselves  they  say,  we 
the  poor  of  Christ,  who  have  no  certain  abode,  fleeing 

*  It  is  probable,  however,  tlvat  Evervinus  misrepresented  them,  as  will 
appear  afterwards. 
1 1  Tim.  vi.  17,  18. 


362 

from  one  city  to  another,  like  sheep  in  the  midst  of 
wolves,  do  endure  persecution  with  the  apostles  and 
martyrs;  though  our  lives  are  strict,  abstemious,  labo- 
rious, devout,  and  holy,  and  though  we  seek  only 
vi'hat  is  necessary  for  the  support  of  the  body,  and 
live  as  men  who  are  not  of  the  world.  But  you,  lovers 
of  the  world,  have  peace  with  the  world,  because  ye 
are  of  it.  False  apostles,-  who  adulterate  the  word  of 
Christ,  seeking  their  own,*  have  misled  you  and  your 
ancestors;  whereas,  we  and  our  fathers,  being  born 
and  bred  up  in  the  apostolical  religion,  have  continued 
in  the  grace  of  Christ,  and  shall  continue  so  to  the 
end  of  the  world.  By  their  fruits  ye  shall  know  them, 
saith  Christ;  and  our  fruits  are  the  footsteps  of  Christ. 
"  The  apostolical  dignity,"  say  they,  "  is  corrupted, 
by  engaging  itself  in  secular  affairs,  while  it  sits  in  the 
chair  of  Peter."  They  do  not  believe  infant  baptism 
to  be  a  duty,  alleging  that  passage  of  the  gospel,  who- 
sover  shall  believe,  and  be  baptized,  shall  be  saved-t 
They  put  no  confidence  in  the  intercession  of  saints; 
and  all  things  observed  in  the  church,  which  have  not 
been  established  by  Christ  himself  or  his  apostles, 
they  call  superstitions.  They  do  not  admit  of  any 
purgatory  after  death;  but  affirm,  that  as  soon  as  the 
souls  depart  out  of  the  bodies,  they  enter  into  rest,  or 
punishment,  proving  their  assertion  from  that  passage 
of  Solomon,  which  way  sover  the  tree  falls,  whether  to 
the  south  or  to  the  north,  there  it  lies,  whence  they 
make  void  all  the  prayers  and  oblations  of  believers 
for  the  deceased.  Those  of  them  who  have  returned 
to  our  church,  told  us,  that  great  numbers  of  their 
persuasion  were  scattered  almost  every  where,  and  that 
among  them  were  many  of  our  clergy  and  monks." 
All  this  seems  to  be  at  least  as  fair  an  account  of 

*  Philip,  ii.  21. 
'  t  The  propriety  of  infant  baptism  has  been  once  for  all  vindicated,  in 
the  first  volunie  of  this  historj'.  I  shall  only  add  here,  that  these  sectaries 
are  charged  with  manicheism,  and  of  course  with  the  total  rejection  of 
water  baptism.  It  was  no  unusual  thinj^  to  stigmatise  new  sects  with  the 
odious  name  of  manichees,  though  I  know  no  evidence  that  there  were 
any  real  remains  of  that  ancient  sect  in  the  twelfth  century. 


363 

true  christians,  as  might  be  expected  from  the  mouths 
of  enemies.  Evervinus  can  be  considered  in  no  other 
light  than  that  of  an  enemy,  for  he  calls  these  men  by 
the  harsh  name  of  monsters;  and  it  deserves  to  be  no- 
ticed, that,  from  his  confession  it  plainly  appears, 
there  were  societies  of  christians,  in  the  twelfth  cen- 
tury, who  disowned  the  pope  and  all  the  fashionable 
superstitions.  These  societies  were  poor  and  illiterate 
indeed,  hardly  distinguishable  from  a  number  of  fan- 
tastic and  seditious  sects,  headed  by  the  very  excep- 
tionable characters  we  have  reviewed;  and  they  were 
not  denominated  from  any  one  leader  of  eminence. 
They  do  not  seem  to  have  understood  the  necessity 
of  the  existence  of  property,  and  therefore,  with  vulgar 
ignorance,  they  held,  as  it  was  reported,  a  tenet  in- 
consistent with  the  good  order  of  society;*  yet,  with 
all  these  defects,  they  probably  possessed  the  spirit  of 
real  godliness;  and,  though  imperfect  in  light,  and  in 
some  points  of  practice,  upheld  the  real  truth  of  God 
in  the  earth,  during  the  general  profligacy  and  cor- 
ruption. 

If  Bernard  had  been  habitually  conversant  among 
them,  1  can  conceive  that  much  good  might  have 
arisen  to  both  parties.  From  him  they  might  have 
learned  a  more  copious  and  perspicuous  view  of 
the  doctrines  of  divine  grace,  and  have  improved  in 
the  knowledge  of  the  fundamental  truths  of  the  scrip- 
ture. His  pious  zeal  and  charity  and  humility  might 
have  instructed  their  minds,  and  disposed  them  to 
give  up  their  absurd  ideas  concerning  property  and 
social  rights:  and  he,  from  an  intercourse  with  them, 
might  have  learned,  that  the  pope  was  indeed  the  an- 
tichrist of  scripture,  and  so  have  been  emancipated 
from  a  variety  of  superstitions,  in  which  he  was  in- 
volved all  his  days.  But  mutual  ignorance  and  preju- 
dice prevented  both  him  and  them  from  even  inti- 
mately knowing  each  other.  In  the  65th  and  66th 

*  We  shall  afterwards  see  abundant  occasion  to  doubt  the  trutli  even 
of  this  charge. 


364 

sermons  on  the  canticles,*  he  attacks  these  sectaries; 
he  condemns  their  scrupulous  refusal  to  f  swear  at  all, 
which,  according  to  him,  was  also  one  of  their  pecu- 
liarities. He  upbraids  them  with  the  observance  of 
secrecy  in  their  religious  rites,  not  considering  the 
necessity  which  persecution  laid  upon  them.  He  finds 
fault  with  a  practice  among  them,  of  dwelling  with 
women  in  the  same  house,  without  being  married  to 
them;  though  it  must  be  owned,  he  expresses  himself 
as  one,  who  knew  very  little  of  the  manners  of  the 
sect.  From  the  strength  of  prejudice,  and  from  the 
numberless  rumours  propagated  against  them,  he  sus- 
pects them  of  hypocrisy;  yet  his  testimony  in  favour 
of  their  general  conduct  seems  to  overbalance  all  his 
invectives,  "  If,"  says  he,  "  you  ask  them  of  their 
faith,  nothing  can  be  more  christian;  if  you  observe 
their  conversation,  nothing  can  be  more  blameless; 
and  what  they  speak,  they  prove  by  deeds.  You  may 
see  a  man,  for  the  testimony  of  his  faith,  frequent  the 
church,  honour  the  elders,  offer  his  gift,  make  his  con- 
fession,  receive  the  sacrament.  What  more  like  a 
christian?  As  to  life  and  manners,  he  circumvents  no 
man,  overreaches  no  man,  and  does  no  violence  to 
any.  He  fasts  much,  he  eats  not  the  bread  of  idleness, 
he  works  with  his  hands  for  his  support.  The  whole 
body,  indeed,  are  rustic,  and  illiterate;  and  all,  whom 
I  have  known  of  this  sect,  are  very  ignorant." 

He,  who  confesses  a  set  of  men  to  have  been  so  ap- 
parently sound  and  upright  in  faith  and  practice,  should 
not  have  ti'cated  them  with  contempt,  because  they 
were  poor  and  vulgar.  Their  ignorance  and  rustic 
habits  should  rather  serve  as  some  apology  for  their 
errors  concerning  the  nature  of  baptism  and  of  human 
society.  And  the  proofs  of  their  hypocrisy  ought  to 
be  very  strong  indeed,  which  can  overturn  such  evi- 
dences of  piety  and  integrity  as  Bernard  himself  has 
admitted  concerning  them.    It  seems  also  from  his 

*  p.  1493,  vol.  i. 

f  The  truth  of  this  charge  also,  as  will  appear  afterwards,  is  much  to 
be  doubted. 


365 

account,  that  they  were  not  separatists,  in  the  modem 
sense  of  the  word.  Though,  no  doubt,  they  had  pri- 
vate religious  assemblies,  they  attended  the  worship  of 
the  general  church,  and  joined  with  other  christians 
in  every  thing  which  they  deemed  to  be  laudable. 
It  \vould  be  tedious  to  examine  minutely  the  charges 
and  arguments  of  Bernard.  He  attacks  some  mani- 
chean  errors  with  great  justice,  supposing  the  men, 
against  whom  he  writes,  to  be  manichees.  He  argues 
in  defence  of  infant  baptism,  and,  lamentable  blind- 
ness in  so  holy  a  person!  he  vindicates  the  doctrine  of 
purgatory  and  other  Roman  superstitions.  He  owns, 
that  these  men  died  with  courage  in  defence  of  their 
doctrine,  and  blames  those  who  had,  in  an  illegal  and 
irregular  manner,  destroyed  some  of  them.  Some  no- 
tions, concerning  marriage,  which  they  were  suppos- 
ed to  hold,  he  justly  rebukes,  though,  from  the  exces- 
sive prejudice  of  their  adversaries,  it  is  very  difficult 
to  know  how  to  affix  charges  of  real  guilt  upon  them. 
Let  not  the  lover  of  real  Christianity  be  distressed  at 
these  things.  The  power  of  prejudice  is  great;  and  it 
is  hard  to  say  how  many  wrong  notions  both  Bernard 
and  these  supposed  heretics  might  maintain,  through 
the  circumstances  of  the  times,  and  yet  both  serve  the 
same  God  in  the  gospel  of  his  son.  That  he  did  so 
is  abundantly  evident;  that  many  of  them  did  so, 
their  lives  and  their  sufferings  evince.  It  will  be  one  of 
the  felicities  of  heaven,  that  saints  shall  no  longer  mis- 
understand one  another.  But  there  want  not  additional 
evidences,  that  this  people  of  Cologne  were  true  Pro- 
testants. Egbert,  a  monk,  and  afterwards  abbot  of 
Schonauge,  tells  us,*  that  he  had  often  disputed  with 
these  heretics,  and  says,  "  These  are  they,  who  are 
commonly  called  cathari."  From  his  authority  I  shall 
venture  to  distinguish  them  by  this  name.  The  term 
corresponds  to  the  more  modern  appellation  of  Puri- 
tans, and  most  probably  was  affixed  to  them,  in  deri- 
sion and  contempt,  by  their  contemporaries.  Egbert 

*  Allix,  p.  149. 

Vor.  in.  47 


I 


366 

adds,  that  they  were  divided  into  several  sects,  and 
maintained  their  sentiments  by  the  authority  of  scrip- 
ture. See  by  the  confession  of  an  enemy  their  vene- 
ration for  the  divine  word,  and  their  constant  use  of 
it,  in  an  age  when  the  authority  of  scripture  was 
weakened,  and  its  light  exceedingly  obscured,  by  a 
variety  of  traditions  and  superstitions.  "  They  are 
armed,"  says  the  same  Egbert,  "  with  ail  those  pas- 
sages of  holy  scripture,  which  in  any  degree  seem  to 
favour  their  views;  with  these  they  know  how  to  de- 
fend themselves,  and  to  oppose  the  catholic  truth, 
though  they  mistake  intirely  the  true  sense  of  scrip- 
ture, which  cannot  be  discovered  without  great  judg- 
ment." "  They  are  increased  to  great  multitudes 
throughout  all  countries,  their  words  spread  like  a 
cancer.  In  Germany  we  call  them  cathari;  in  Flanders 
they  call  them  piphies;  in  France,  tisserands,  because 
many  of  them  are  of  that  occupation."!  Bernard  him- 
self also,  a  Frenchman,  speaks  of  both  sexes  of  them, 
as  weavers;  and  it  became  not  a  man  of  his  piety  to 
speak  degradingly  of  the  humble  labours  of  peaceful 
industry.  But  such  were  the  times!  monastic  sloth  ap- 
peared then  more  holy  than  useful  mechanical  occu- 
pations. We  seem,  however,  by  comparing  together 
several  fragments  of  information,  to  have  acquired 
some  distinct  ideas  of  these  cathari:  they  were  a  plain, 
unassuming,  harmless,  and  industrious  race  of  chris- 
tians, condemning,  i)y  their  doctrine  and  manners,  the 
whole  Lipparatus  of  the  reigning  idolatry  and  supersti- 
tion, placing  true  religion  in  the  faith  and  love  of 
Christ,  and  retaining  a  supreme  regard  for  the  divine 
word.  Neither  in  that,  nor  in  any  other  age,  since  the 
propagation  of  the  gospel  of  Christ,  have  the  fanciful 
theories  of  philosophers  contributed  to  enlighten  or 
improve  mankind  in  religious  matters.  It  is  a  strict 
attention  to  the  revealed  word,  which,  under  the  in- 
fluence of  the  divine  Spirit,  has  alone  secured  the 
existence  of  an  holy  seed  in  the  earth,  who  should 

t  That  jaweavers;  see  Du  Pin,  ccni.  xii.  p.  88. 


367 

serve  God  in  righteousness;  though  they  might  fre- 
quently be  destitute  of  learning  and  every  secular  ad- 
vantage; as  seem&  to  have  been  the  case  with  the 
cathari,  "  Even  so,  Father,  for  it  hath  seemed  good 
in  thy  sight." 

It  appears  also,  that  their  numbers  were  very  con- 
siderable in  this  century;  but  Cologne,  Flanders,  the 
south  of  France,  Savoy,  and  Milan  were  their  princi- 
pal places  of  residence. 

"  They  declare,"  says  Egbert,  "  that  the  true  faith 
and  worship  of  Christ  is  no  where  to  be  found,  but  in 
their  meetings,  which  they  hold  in  cellars  and  weaving 
rooms.  If  ever  thc}^  do  accompany  the  people,  witli, 
whom  they  dwell,  to  hear  mass,  or  to  receive  the  sa- 
crament, they  do  it  in  dissimulation,  that  they  may  be 
thought  to  believe  what  they  do  not;  for  they  main- 
tain, that  the  priestly  order  is  perished  in  the  Roman 
church,  and  is  preserved  only  in  their  sect."  He  gives, 
however,  and  at  too  great  a  length  to  be  here  inserted, 
some  noble  testimonies  of  the  soundness  of  their  doc- 
trine, in  the  rejection  of  purgatory,  prayers  for  the 
dead,  and  the  like. 

I  am  obliged  to  collect,  from  thinly  scattered  mate- 
rials, the  evidences  of  the  true  character  of  these  ca- 
thari; and  much  has,  I  think,  already  appeai'cd  in  their 
favour,  from  the  mouths  of  enemies.  Egbert,  we  see, 
allows,  in  perfect  agreement  with  Bernard,  that  they 
were  not  separatists,  in  the  modern  sense  of  the  word, 
and  that  they  attended  the  public  service  and  sacra- 
ments of  the  general  church.  I  suppose  they  knew 
how  to  make  a  practical  distinction  between  what  still 
remained  divinely  excellent  in  the  church,  and  what 
was  idolatrous  and  corrupt.  They  seem  to  have  con- 
formed to  the  public  worship,  much  in  the  same  man- 
ner as  the  apostles  themselves  did  to  the  Jewish  church, 
while  it  existed,  still  preserving  an  miion  among  them- 
selves in  worship,  and  in  hearing  sermons,  so  far  as 
the  iniquity  of  the  times  would  permit.  That,  which 
Egbert  charges  to  tlieir  hypocrisy,  I  should  think  ad- 
mits of  a  more  liberal  construction.  It  may  appear  to 


368 

deserve  the  name  of  candor  and  even  of  charity.  He, 
who  agrees  with  you  in  practice,  so  far  as  you  are 
ri^ht,  ought  to  be  respected  for  his  conformity,  not- 
withstanding, that  in  things,  which  he  deems  wrong, 
he  exphcitly  opposes  you.  It  were  to  be  wished,  that 
all  serious  christians  had  acted  in  that  manner,  and 
had  not  been  so  hasty,  as  some  of  them  have  been,  in 
forming  a  total  separation  from  the  general  church. 
Then  the  happy  influence  of  their  views  in  religion 
might  have  spread  more  powerfully;  nor  is  there  any 
particular  danger  that  they  themselves  would  have 
received  infection  from  the  world,  while  they  were 
estranged  from  it  in  practice  and  in  manners.  After 
all,  circumstances  may  arise,  when  an  intire  sepai'a- 
tion  from  the  whole  body  of  nominal  christians  may 
become  necessary  to  the  people  of  God.  But  this 
should  never  be  attempted  with  precipitation.  And 
the  meekness  and  charity,  which  the  cathari  exhibit- 
ed in  this  point,  seem  highly  laudable.  He  also,  who 
has  observed  so  much  of  the  world,  as  to  perceive 
that  a  deliberate  system  of  hypocrisy  usually  prevails 
among  a  collection  of  idle  vagrants,  but  seldom  or 
never  among  men  who  subsist  by  patient  industry, 
will  be  little  moved  by  Egbert's  charge  of  dissimula- 
tion. 

The  same  Egbert  confesses  also,  that  they  had 
many  things  mingled  with  their  master's  doctrine, 
which  are  not  to  be  found  among  the  ancient  ma- 
nichees.  *'  They  are  also,"  says  he,  "  divided  among 
themselves:  what  some  of  them  say  Is  denied  by 
others."  If  the  cathari  held  some  doctrines  quite  dis- 
tinct from  manicheism,  it  should  seem,  that  the  whole 
charge  of  that  ancient  odious  heresy,  might  be  nothing 
more  than  a  convenient  term  of  reproach.  Even  Ber- 
nard, who  appears  to  have  been  extremely  ill  informed 
concerning  this  people,  remarks,  that  they  had  no 
particular  father  of  their  heresy;  an  observation,  which 
may  imply  more  than  he  was  willing  to  allow,  namely, 
that  they  were  not  heretics,  but  christians.  As  to  the 
diversity  of  sentiments  among  themselves,  what  de- 


369 

nomination  of  christians  ever  existed,  who,  in  some 
lesser  matters,  did  not  maintain  several  diversities? 

This  people  continued  in  a  state  of  extreme  perse- 
cution throughout  this  century.  Galdinus,  bishop  of 
Milan,  who  had  inveighed  against  them  during  the 
eight  or  nine  years  of  his  episcopacy,*  died  in  the 
year  1173,  by  an  iUness  contracted  through  the  excess 
of  his  vehemence  in  preaching  against  them. 

There  is  a  piece,  entitled  "  The  noble  Lesson," 
written  undoubtedly  by  one  of  the  cathari,  which  in 
the  body  of  it  says,  eleven  hundred  years  are  already 
passed,  since  it  was  written  thus;  "  for  we  are  in  the 
last  time."t  The  writer,  supposing  that  the  world  was 
drawing  near  to  an  end,  exhorts  his  brethren  to  prayer, 
watching,  and  the  renunciation  of  worldly  goods.  He 
speaks  with  energy  of  death  and  judgment;  of  the  dif- 
ferent issues  of  godhness  and  of  wickedness;  and,  from 
a  review  of  the  scripture  history,  connected  with  the 
experience  of  the  times  in  which  he  lived,  concludes, 
that  there  are  but  few  that  shall  be  saved. 

The  first  principle  of  those,  says  he,  who  desire  to 
serve  God,  is  to  honour  God  the  father,  to  implore 
the  grace  of  his  glorious  son,  and  the  Holyghost,  who 
enlightens  us  in  the  true  way.  This  is  the  trinity,  full 
of  all  power,  wusdom,  and  goodness,  to  whom  wc 
ought  to  pray  for  strength  to  overcome  the  devil,  the 
world,  and  the  flesh,  that  we  may  preserve  soul  and 
body  in  love.  To  the  love  of  God,  he  observes,  the 
love  of  our  neighbours  should  be  joined,  which  com- 
prehends the' love  even  of  our  enemies.  He  speaks  of 
the  believer's  hope  of  being  received  into  glory.  He 

*  Allix.  p   153. 

f  The  manuscript  of  this  composition  was  given  to  the  public  library  o! 
the  university  of  Cambridge,  by  sir  Samuel  Morland  in  the  year  1658. 
The  people  of  whom  the  author  speaks,  are  called  Wallenses  or  Vaudes, 
from  the  valleys  of  Piedmont.  They  afterwards  were  called  Waldenses, 
from  Peter  Waldo,  of  whom  hereafter;  and  by  that  name,  they  are  known 
to  this  day.  But  by  the  date  1100  they  were  evidently  a  distinct  people- 
before  his  time,  and,  most  likely,  had  existed,  as  such,  for  some  genera 
tions.  The  seeds  of  the  cathari  had,  in  all  probability,  been  sov/n  by 
Claudius  of  Turin,  in  the  ninth  century.  The  whole  of  the  "  Noble  Lesson," 
is  given  us  by  sir  Samuel  Morland  in  his  history  of  the  churches  of  Pied- 
mont. Allix,"  160.  Morland's  Hist. 


370 

explains  the  origin  of  all  that  evil,  which  reigns  in  the 
world;  and  he  traces  it  up  to  the  sin  of  Adam,  which 
brought  forth  death;  whence,  says  he,  Christ  hath  re- 
deemed us  by  his  own  death.  He  asserts  the  necessity 
of  holiness,  in  order  to  salvation.  He  explains  the  spi- 
rituality of  the  law  of  God,  and  describes  the  punish- 
ment of  transgressors  as  the  effect  of  divine  justice 
and  goodness.  He  illustrates  the  holiness  of  the  di- 
vine character,  in  the  economy  of  the  old  testament, 
and  in  the  history  of  the  Israelites,  and  delineates  the 
purity  and  perfection  of  the  gospel  precepts.  He  re- 
lates the  great  historical  facts  of  Christianity,  and  makes 
some  just  observations  on  the  spii'it  of  persecution.  Very 
remarkable  is  the  character,  which  he  gives  of  the 
vaudes  in  his  own  time,  contrasted  with  that  of  their 
enemies.  Let  the  reader  consider,  whether  we  have 
not  here  the  flock  of  Christ  among  wolves.  "  If  a  man," 
says  he,  "  love  those,  who  desire  to  love  God  and  Je- 
sus Christ;  if  he  will  neither  curse,  nor  swear,  nor  act 
deceitfully,  nor  live  in  lewdness  and  injustice,  nor 
avenge  himself  of  his  enemies,  they  presently  say,  the 
man  is  a  vaudes;  he  deserves  to  be  punished:  and 
iniquitous  methods  are  then  used  to  rob  him  of  the 
fruits  of  his  lawful  industry.  Such  an  one,  however, 
consoles  himself  with  the  hope  of  eternal  salvation." 
He  represents  their  enemies  as  supposing  themselves 
to  be  good  men  and  true  christians;  and  exposes  their 
folly  in  placing  their  hopes  on  a  deathbed  repentance, 
the  priestly  absolution,  and  masses. 

He  roundly  condemns  the  whole  system  of  anti- 
christ, which  prevailed  in  liis  time,  particularly  the 
fatal  doctrine  of  priestly  absolution.  He  describes  the 
true  practical  principles  of  christian  godliness,  and  de- 
clares, that  no  other  divine  revelation  is  to  be  expected. 
He  speaks  with  equal  simplicity  and  strength  of  the 
last  judgment,  and  of  the  everlasting  punishments  of 
the  wicked;  "  from  which,"  says  he,  "  may  God  de- 
liver us,  if  it  be  his  blessed  will,  and  give  us  to  hear 
vvhat  he  shall  say  to  his  elect,  Come  hither,  ye  blessed 
of  my  Father,  inherit  the  kingdom  prepared  for  yon 


371 

from  the  beginning  of  the  world,  where  you  shall  have 
true  pleasure,  riches  and  honour.  May  it  please  the 
Lord,  who  formed  the  world,  that  we  may  be  of  the 
number  of  his  elect,  to  dwell  in  his  court  forever. 
Praised  be  God.  Amen." 

Such  was  the  provision  of  divine  grace,  to  take  out 
of  a  corrupt  and  idolatrous  world  of  nominal  chris- 
tians, a  people  formed  for  himself,  who  should  show 
forth  his  praise,  and  who  should  provoke  the  rest  of 
mankind  by  the  light  of  true  humility,  and  holiness; 
a  people,  singularly  separate  from  their  neighbours  in 
spirit,  manners,  and  discipline;  rude  indeed,  and  illi- 
terate, and  not  only  discountenanced,  but  even  con- 
demned by  the  few  real  good  men,  who  adhered  alto- 
gether to  the  Romish  church:  condemned  because  con- 
tinually misrepresented.  Nor  do  I  know  a  more  strik- 
ing proof  of  that  great  truth  of  the  divine  word,  that, 
in  the  worst  of  times,  the  church  shall  exist,  and  the 
gates  of  hell  shall  not  prevail  against  it. 


CHAP.  IV. 

The  Writings  of  Bernard  Reviewed. 

IN  this  chapter  I  shall  take  notice  of  some  of  those 
parts  of  Bernard's  writings,  which  bear  no  relation 
to  the  controversies  that  have  already  engaged  our 
attention. 

His  epistles  come  first  under  our  consideration;  and, 
among  these,  the  epistle  directed  to  Bruno,  elected 
archbishop  of  Cologne,  ^vill  deserve  the  attention  of 
pastors,  and  of  every  person,  who  aspires  to  the  most 
important  of  all  functions. 

"  You*  ask  of  me,  illustrious  Bruno,  whether  you 
ought  to  acquiesce  in  the  desires  of  those,  who  would 
promote  you  to  the  office  of  a  bishop.  What  mortal  can 

*  Ep.  8.  vol.  \\ 


372 

presume  to  decide  this?  Perhaps  God  calls  you;  who 
may  dare  to  dissuade?  Perhaps  he  does  not;  who  may 
advise  you  to  accept?  Whether  the  calling  be  of  God  or 
not,  who  can  know,  except  the  Spirit,  who  searches 
THE  DEEP  THINGS  OF  GoD,  or  hc,  to  whom  the 
Spirit  may  reveal  it?  Your  humble,  but  awful  confes- 
sion in  your  letter  renders  it  still  more  difficult  to  give 
advice;  so  grievously,  and,  as  I  believe,  with  truth, 
do  you  condemn  the  course  of  your  past  life.  For,  it 
cannot  be  denied,  that  such  a  life  is  unworthy  of  so 
sacred  an  office.  But  you  fear  on  the  other  side,  and  I 
also  have  the  same  apprehensions,  that  it  may  be  wrong- 
not  to  improve  the  talent  of  knowledge  committed  to 
you,  though  your  conscience  do  thus  accuse  you;  only 
it  may  be  observed  that  you  may  faithfully  employ 
that  talent  in  some  other  method,  less  extensive  in- 
deed, but  less  hazardous.  I  own,  I  am  struck  with  a 
serious  dread:  I  speak  freely  to  you,  as  to  my  own 
soul,  what  I  really  think,  when  I  consider  from  what, 
and  to  what  you  are  called;  especially  as  no  time  of  re- 
pentance will  intervene,  through  which  the  passage, 
however,  dangerous,  might  be  made.  And  truly,  the 
right  order  of  things  requires,  that  a  man  should  take 
care  of  his  own  soul,  before  he  undertake  the  care  of 
the  souls  of  others.  But  what  if  God  hasten  his  grace, 
and  multiply  his  mercy  toward  you?  Blessed  in- 
deed is  the  man,  to  whom  the  Lord  will  not  impute 
sin.  For  who  shall  lay  any  thing  to  the  charge  of  God's 
elect?  If  God  justify,  who  is  he  that  condemns?  The 
thief  obtained  salvation  in  this  compendious  method. 
One  and  the  same  day  he  confessed  his  sins,  and  was 
introduced  into  glory.  The  cross  was  to  him  a  short 
passage  from  a  region  of  death  into  the  land  of  the 
living,  and  from  the  mire  of  corruption  into  the  para- 
dise of  pleasure.  This  sudden  remedy  of  godliness  the 
happy  sinful  woman  found,  when  on  a  sudden,  where 
sin  had  abounded,  grace  began  also  to  abound.  With- 
out a  long  course  of  penitential  labour  her  many  sins 
were  forgiven.  It  is  one  thing,  however,  to  obtain  a 
!5peedy  remission;  another,  from  a  life  of  trangression, 


373 

to  be  promoted  to  a  bishopric.  I  can  give  no  decisive 
opinion.  But  there  is  a  duty,  which  we  may  perform  for 
a  friend  without  danger,  and  not  without  fruit;  we  may 
give  him  the  suffrage  of  our  prayers  to  God  on  his  be- 
half. Leaving  to  God  the  secret  of  his  own  counsel, 
we  may  earnestly  implore  him  to  work  in  you  and  con- 
cerning you,  what  is  becoming  in  his  sight,  and  what 
is  for  your  real  good." 

Bruno  having  accepted  the  archbishopric,  Bernard 
wrote  thus  to  him.*  "  If  all,  who  are  called  to  the 
ministry,  are  of  necessity  called  also  to  the  heavenly 
kingdom,  the  arehbishop  of  Cologne  is  safe  indeed. 
But  if  Saul  and  Judas  were  elected,  the  one  to  a 
crown,  the  other  to  the  priesthood  by  God  himself; 
and  the  scripture,  which  asserts  this,  cannot  be  bro- 
ken, the  archbishop  of  Cologne  has  reason  to  fear.  If 
that  sentence  also  be  now  as  true  as  ever,  namely,  that 
God  hath  not  chosen  many  noble,  mighty  and  wise, 
has  not  the  archbishop  of  Cologne  a  threefold  reason 
for  solicitude?  He  that  is  greatest  among  you,  let  him 
he  as  the  younger,t  is  the  voice  of  wisdom  itself.  May 
I  always  deal  with  my  friends  in  the  language  of  salu- 
tary fear,  not  of  fallacious  adu4ation!  To  that  he  directs 
me,  who  says,  blessed  is  the  man  that  feareth  alway.  J 
From  this  he  dissuades  me,  who  says,  O  my  people, 
those,  who  lead  thee,  cause  thee  to  err.  "§ 

In  so  serious  a  light  appeared  to  Bernard  the  nature 
of  the  pastoral  office.  Do  men  in  our  times  seek  for 
eminent  ecclesiastical  situations  with  such  impressions? 
or,  do  secular  gains  frequently  make  a  predominant 
part  of  their  views?  Perhaps  there  is  not  any  one  point 
of  all  practical  religion,  in  which  the  ancients  may 
more  advantageously  be  compared  with  the  moderns, 
than  in  the  subject  of  the  pastoral  office,  with  regard 
to  the  ideas  of  its  importance,  and  the  qualifications 
which  it  requires. 

In II  another  epistle  to  Guigo  and  his  brethren,  car- 

*  Ep.  9.  I  Luke,  xxil.  26.  t  Prov.  xwiil.  14^ 

5  Isaiah,  iii.  12.  H  Ep,  1 1.  p.  28. 

Vol.  III.  48 


374 

thusian  monks,  he  describes  the  nature  of  true  charity 
''  There  is  one  who  confesses  to  the  Lord,  because  he 
is  mighty;  there  is  another  who  confesses  to  him,  be- 
cause he  is  good  to  the  confessor;  and  a  third,  who 
confesses  to  him,  because  he  is  simply  good.  The 
first  is  a  slave,  and  fears  for  himself;  the  second  is 
mercenary,  and  desires  his  own  interest  merely;  the 
third  is  a  son,  and  behaves  dutifully  to  a  father.  He, 
who  lives  under  the  predominance  of  fear,  or  of  desire 
of  his  own  interest,  is  selfish;  but  charity  seeketh  not 
her  own.  When  a  man  prefers  his  own  will  to  the 
eternal  law  of  God,  he  perversely  attempts  to  imitate 
the  Creator,  who  is  a  law  to  himself.  Alas!  in  us  such 
a  spirit  binds  us  downward  to  death  and  hell.  He,  who 
will  not  be  sweetly  ruled  by  the  divine  will,  is  penally 
governed  by  himself,  and  he,  who  casts  oif  the  easy 
yoke  and  light  burden  of  love,  must  suffer  the  intole- 
rable load  of  selfwill.  My  Lord  God,  may  I  breathe 
under  the  light  burden  of  love,  nor  be  restrained  by 
slavish  fear,  nor  allured  by  mercenary  desire;  but  may 
I  be  led  by  thy  free  Spirit,  which  may  witness  with 
my  spirit,  that  I  am  thy  child!  Love,  indeed,  is  not 
without  fear  and  desire;  but  it  sanctifies  and  regulates 
them  both.  But,  because  we  are  carnal,  our  love  is 
tarnal  at  first,  which,  if  it  be  directed  in  right  order, 
improving  in  its  steps  under  the  conduct  of  grace,  will 
be  consummated  by  the  spirit.  In  the  first  place,  a  man 
loves  himself  on  his  own  account;  and,  when  he  finds 
that  he  is  not  sufficient  for  his  own  happiness,  he  be- 
gins, by  faith,  to  seek  after  God  as  necessary  for  him. 
He  then  loves  God  in  the  second  degree,  but  for  him- 
self, not  for  the  sake  of  God.  But  when,  through  the 
urgency  of  his  wants,  he  has  been  brought  to  cultivate 
acquaintance  with  God,  by  degrees  God  himself  be- 
gins to  be  known  as  he  is,  and  of  course  to  be  loved: 
having  tasted  that  the  Lord  is  gracious,  he  passes  to 
the  third  degree,  to  love  God  for  what  he  is  in  him  - 
self.  In  this  degree  he  stops,  and  I  do  not  know,  that 
any  man  in  this  life  attains  a  fourth,  namel}^,  that  a  man 
should  love  himself  only  on  account  of  God.  Let  them 


375 

tissert  this,  who  have  found  it:  to  me,  I  own,  it  seems 
impossible.  But,  it  will  take  place,  when  the  good  and 
faithful  servant  shall  be  introduced  into  the  joy  of  his 
Lord." 

Let  this  suffice  for  a  small  specimen  of  the  meta- 
physical doctrine  of  charity,  on  which  there  has  been 
so  much  controversy  in  different  ages.  The  gradual 
progress  of  spirituality  in  religion  seems  to  be  justly 
described  by  Bernard;  and  the  plain  dictates  of  com 
mon  sense  do  evidently  restrain  the  flights  of  his  fan- 
cy. For,  in  truth,  what  is  the  amount  of  all  the  meta- 
physics, which  good  men  have  written,  concerning 
the  disinterested  love  of  God,  but  this,  that  it  ought 
to  be  sincere,  not  selfish;  and  does  not  the  common 
meaning  of  the  word  love,  teach  us  this"?  If  I  may  be 
said  to  love  a  friend  for  the  sake  of  my  own  interest, 
it  is,  at  least,  a  very  improper  mode  of  speech;  for,  in 
strict  propriety  I  love  not  him,  but  my  own  interest, 
or  some  gain  which  I  conceive  attainable  through  him. 
On  the  other  hand,  to  talk  of  loving  God,  and  relin- 
quishing selflove,  is  unnatural  and  idle  romance.  On 
this  subject  then,  which  has  tortured  the  minds  of 
pious  souls,  it  would  be  wise  to  stick  to  common 
sense,  which  knows  no  repugnance  between  the  love 
of  God  and  selflove,  though  the  latter  ought  in  all 
cases  to  be  subordinate  to  the  former:  and  this  is  the 
point,  which  Bernard  seems  to  have  understood  and 
maintained.  The  greatest  defect  in  the  letter  seems  to 
be  that,  which  was  common  to  the  age,  namely,  the 
want  of  a  distinct  and  orderly  description  of  the  faith 
of  the  gospel,  which  alone  can  work  the  love,  which  he 
describes. 

In  another  epistle,*  he  comments  very  justly  on 
the  judicial  ignorance,  which  St.  Paul  describes  as  the 
punishment  from  God  on  those,  who  knew  God,  and 
yet  glorified  him  not  as  God.f  "  But,"  says  he, 
"  God  who  calleth  things  that  be  not,  as  though  they 
were,  in  compassion  to  those,  who  are  reduced,  as  it 

*  18,  p.  Sa.  i  ^r,m   r. 


576 

were,  to  nothing,  hath,  m  the  mean  time,  given  us  to 
relish  by  faith,  and  to  seek  by  desire,  that  hidden 
manna,  of  which  the  apostle  says,  Your  Hfe  is  hid  with 
Christ  in  God.*  I  say  in  the  mean  time,  because  we 
cannot  yet  contemplate  it  according  to  its  nature,  nor 
fully  embrace  it  by  love.  Hence  we  begin  to  be  some- 
thing of  that  new  creature,  which  will,  at  length,  be- 
come a  perfect  man,  and  attain  the  measure  of  the 
stature  of  the  fulness  of  Christ;  and  this  will  take  place 
beyond  doubt,  when  righteousness  shall  ti^rn  again  to 
judgment,  and  the  desire  of  the  traveller  shall  be 
changed  into  the  fulness  of  love.  For,  if  faith  and  de- 
sire initiate  us  here  when  absent,  understanding  and 
love  will  consummate  us  when  present.  And,  as  faith 
leads  to  full  knowledge,  so  desire  leads  to  perfect  love. 
B}'  these  two  arms  of  the  soul,  understanding  and  love, 
it  comprehends  the  length  and  depth,  and  breadth, 
and  height;  and  Christ  is  all  these  things."  He  goes 
on  to  expose  the  folly  of  seeking  the  praise  of  men, 
and  the  inconsistency  of  this  spirit  with  the  humility, 
which  becomes  creatures  so  empty  and  vain. 

Bernard,  having  been  addressed  in  terms  of  great 
respect  by  Rainald,  an  abbot, f  with  his  usual  humility 
shows  how  averse  he  was  to  hear  himself  commended. 
"  Indeed,"  says  he,  ''  by  extolling  you  depress  me. 
But,  that  I  may  not  sink  under  the  pressure,  I  am 
consoled  by  the  testimonies  of  divine  truth:  it  is  good 
for  me,  that  I  have  been  in  trouble,  that  I  may  learn 
thy  statutes.  Such  is  the  marvellous  efficacy  of  the 
word  of  God,  that  while  it  humbles,  it  exalts  us.  This 
is  indeed  the  kind  and  powerful  operation  of  the  Word, 
by  whom  all  things  were  made;  and  thus,  indeed, 
Christ's  yoke  becomes  easy,  and  his  burden  light. 
Light,  indeed,  is  his  burden.  For  what  can  be  lighter 
than  a  load,  which  even  carries  every  person,  who 
bears  it.  A  burden  which  unburdens  the  soul.  In  all 
nature  I  seek  to  find  some  resemblance  to  this,  and  I 
seem  to  discover  a  shadow  of  it  in  the  wings  of  the 

'  Coloss,  ils.  r..  V  Ep.  72.  p.  73. 


377 

bird,  which  are  borne  by  the  creature,  and  yet  sustain 
and  support  its  flights  through  the  open  firmament  of 
heaven." 

To  undertake  pilgrimages  to  Jerusalem  was  the 
folly  of  the  times.  An  abbot,  John  Carnotensis,  was 
seized  with  this  infatuation.  Bernard,  however  re- 
buked* his  zeal,  and  endeavoured  to  convince  him, 
that  he  ought  not  to  abdicate  the  pastoral  care,  which 
had  been  committed  to  him.  The  chief  argument, 
which  supported  John  in  this  scheme,  was  drawn  from 
the  strength  and  vehemence  of  his  desires.  It  is  the 
usual  plea  of  all,  who  really  deserve  the  imputation  of 
enthusiasm  in  religion;  and  it  is  sufficiently  answered 
by  Bernard.  "  You  say,  whence  should  I  have  so  strong 
a  desire,  if  it  be  not  from  God?  With  your  good  leave 
I  will  speak  my  sentiments.  Stolen  waters  are  sweet : 
and  whoever  is  not  ignorant  of  Satan's  devices,  will 
not  hesitate  to  say,  that  this  poisonous  sweetness  h 
infust:d  into  your  thirsting  heart  by  a  minister  of  Sa- 
tan, transformed  into  the  appearance  of  an  angel  oi 
light." 

Bernard  de  Portis  was  a  young  man  of  the  Carthu- 
sian order,  and  had  been  elected  a  bishop  of  a  church 
among  the  Lombards.  Our  Bernard,  however,  think- 
ing him  unfit  for  the  situation,  wrote  to  pope  Innocent 
his  sentiments;  which  had  so  great  authority,  as  to 
prevent  the  young  man's  consecration.  "  It  is,  indeed, 
worthy  of  your  dignity,  to  place  a  hidden  light  in  a 
conspicuous  situation.  Let  it  be  placed,  if  you  please, 
on  a  candlestick,  that  it  may  be  a  burning  and  shining 
light,  but  only  in  a  place,  where  the  violence  of  the 
wind  may  not  prevail  to  extinguish  it.  Who  knows 
not  the  restless  and  insolent  spirit  of  the  Lombards? 
What  can  a  young  man  of  a  weak  body,  and  accus- 
tomed to  solitude,  do  amidst  a  barbarous,  turbulent, 
and  stormy  people?  His  sanctity  and  their  perverse- 
ness,  his  simplicity  and  their  deceitfulness,  will  not 
agree  together.  Let  him  be  reserved,  if  you  please, 
for  a  more  suitable  situation,  and  for  a  people,  whom 

*  Ep.  82.  p.  8  J. 


37« 

lie  may  so  govern  as  to  profit;  and  let  us  not  lose,  by  a 
precipitate  preferment,  the  fruit  which  may  be  reaped 
in  due  time."* 

To  Baldwin,!  whom  he  had  dismissed  from  his 
own  monastery,  and  appointed  abbot  of  the  monastery 
of  Reate,  he  writes  with  that  vehemence  of  zeal  and 
affection,  which  characterize  his  writings.  But  there 
is  no  need  to  transcribe  the  epistle.  **  Doctrine,  ex- 
ample, and  prayer,"  he  recommends,  as  the  three 
things  which  constitute  a  pastor.  The  last  of  the  three 
he  particularly  recommends,  as  '■  that,  which  gives 
grace  and  efficacy  to  the  labours  of  the  preacher,  whe- 
ther  these  labours  be  of  word  or  of  deed." 

See  how  the  views  of  eternity  mingle  with  the  cha- 
ritable affections  of  Bernard,  and  how  familiar,  and  at 
the  same  time,  how  animating  were  his  prospects  of 
the  last  day!  "  I  long  for  your  presence,"  says  he  to 
a  friend, J  "  but  when?  At  least  in  the  city  of  our 
God;  if  in  truth  we  have  here  no  continuing  city,  but 
seek  one  to  come.  There,  there,  we  shall  see,  and  our 
heart  shall  rejoice.  In  the  mean  time,  I  shall  be  de- 
lighted with  what  I  hear  of  you,  hoping  and  expecting 
to  see  you  face  to  face  in  the  day  of  the  Lord,  that  my 
joy  may  be  full.  In  addition  to  the  many  good  things, 
■which  I  constantly  hear  of  you,  let  me  beg  your  ear- 
nest prayers  for  us." 

To  §  Eugenius  his  disciple,  newly  advanced  to  the 
pontificate,  of  whom  we  have  already  given  some  ac- 
count, he  writes  with  an  ardour  of  sincere  piety, 
which  might  induce  one  to  forget,  if  any  thing  could, 
the  vices  of  the  popedom  itself,  as  well  as  the  pitiable 
superstitions,  with  which  early  habits  had  clouded  the 
honest  devotion  of  Bernard.  "  I  waited,"  says  he, 
"  for  some  time,  if,  perhaps,  one  of  my  sons  might  re- 
turn, and  assuage  a  father's  grief,  by  saying,  Joseph 
thy  son  liveth,  and  he  is  governor  over  all  the  land 
of  Egypt.  No  account  arriving,  I  write,  indeed,  not 
from  inclination,  but  from  necessity,  in  compliance 
with  the  request  of  friends,  to  whom  I  could  not  deny 

*  Ep.  155.  p.  157.  t  Ep.  201.  p.  139.  i  Ep,  204.  p.  195 


-  r^p.  100.  p.  iO('. 

f  Ep.238.p.  234. 


'  379 

the  little  services,  which  the  few  days  I  yet  may  have  to 
live  may  allow.  I  envy  not  your  dignity,  because  what 
was  wanting  to  me,  I  trust  I  have  in  him,  who  not 
only  comes  after  me,  but  also  by  me.  For,  dignified 
as  you  are,  I  have  begotten  you  through  the  gospel. 
What  then  is  our  hope,  our  joy,  and  crown  of  rejoic- 
ing? Are  not  you — in  the  presence  of  God?  It  re- 
mains, that  this  change  being  made  in  your  circum* 
stances,  the  state  of  the  church  may  be  changed  also 
for  the  better.  Claim  nothing  from  her  for  yourself, 
except  that  you  ought  to  lay  down  your  life  for  her 
sake,  if  it  be  necessary.  If  Christ  has  sent  you,  you 
will  reckon,  that  you  came  not  to  be  ministered  unto, 
but  to  minister.  A  genuine  successor  of  Paul  will  say 
with  him,  '  Not  that  we  have  dominion  over  your 
faith,  but  are  helpers  of  your  joy.'*  Peter's  successor 
will  hear  Peter's  voice,  '  not  as  lords  over  God's 
heritage,  but  as  ensamples  to  the  flock. 'f  All  the 
church  of  the  saints  rejoices  in  the  Lord,  expecting 
from  you,  what  it  seemed  to  have  had  in  none  of  your 
predecessors  for  many  ages  past.  And  should  not  I 
rejoice?  I  own  I  do  so,  but  with  trembling.  For, 
though  I  have  laid  aside  the  name  of  a  father,  I  still 
have  toward  you  a  father's  fear,  anxiety,  affection,  and 
bowels.  I  consider  your  elevation,  and  I  dread  a  fall: 
I  consider  the  height  of  dignity,  and  I  startle  at  the 
appearance  of  the  abyss,  which  lieth  beneath.  You 
have  attained  an  higher  lot,  but  not  a  safer;  a  sublimer 
station,  but  not  a  securer.  Remember,  you  are  the 
successor  of  him,  who  said;  "  silver  and  gold  have  I 
none. "J  He  then  explains  the  particular  business,  on 
occasion  of  which  he  wrote  at  this  time;  and  he  de. 
sires  him  to  act  in  such  a  manner,  "  that  men  may 
know  that  there  is  a  prophet  in  Israel."  "  O  that  I 
might  see  before  I  die  the  church  of  God,  as  iu 
ancient  times,  when  the  aj)ostIes  let  down  their  nets 
for  a  draught  not  of  silver  and  gold,  but  of  souls! 
How  do  I  wish  you  to  inherit  the  voice  of  him,  who 

'■  5  Tor  11"  T  1  p.-'    V  -  I  A.-'ts,  ;;;  r". 


380 

said,  thy  money  perish  with  thee!*  O  voice  of  thun- 
der, let  all  who  wish  ill  to  Zion  be  confounded  at  its 
sound!  Many  now  say  in  pleasing  expectation,  the 
axe  is  laid  to  the  root  of  the  trees.  Many  say  in  their 
hearts,  the  flowers  appear  in  our  land.  Take  courage 
then,  and  be  strong.  But,  in  all  your  works,  remem- 
ber that  you  are  a  man,  and  let  the  fear  of  him,  who 
restra#ieth  the  spirit  of  princes,  be  ever  before  your 
eyes.  What  a  number  of  pontiffs  before  you  have  in 
af  short  time  been  removed!  By  constant  meditation, 
amidst  the  blandishments  of  this  fading  glory,  remem- 
ber your  latter  end.  Those,  in  whose  seat  you  now 
sit,  you  will  doubtless  follow  to  the  grave," 

It  cannot  be  denied,  that  the  zeal,  the  sincerity,  the 
purity  of  christian  doctrine,  in  all  the  essentials  at  least, 
the  charity,  and  the  blameless  manners  of  a  reformer, 
appeared  in  Bernard.  How  happened  it  then,  that  num- 
bers of  illiterate  weavers,  as  we  have  seen,  detected  the 
spirit  of  antichrist  in  the  popedom,  and  avoided  its  su- 
perstitions, while  this  abbot  was  imposed  on  by  its 
false  glare  of  sanctity!  I  suppose  because  he  was  an 
•abbot.  The  delusive  splendor  of  fictitious  holiness,  so 
intimately  connected  with  antichrist,  deceived  one  of  the 
most  upright  of  human  kind.  It  was  not  given  him  to 
observe  the  unreasonableness  of  expecting  the  comple- 
tion of  his  pious  wishes  in  the  church,  under  the  aus- 
pices of  the  see  of  corruption!  If  he  had  lived  at  large 
in  the  world,  with  no  predilection  for  the  court  of 
Rome,  and  had  been  favoured  with  the  same  divine 
grace,  and  even  with  no  higher  degree  of  christian 
virtue,  than  that  which  he  then  possessed,  he  might 
have  been  the  head  of  the  cathari,  whom  he  ignorantly 
censured!  So  much  do  circumstances  contribute  to  the 
formation  of  characters  in  life,  and  so  much  reason 
have  many,  whose  piety  is  far  inferior  to  that  of  Ber- 
nard, to  be  thankful,  that  the  lot  is  fallen  to  them  in 
pleasant  places. 

From  the  epistles  let  us  pass  on  to  other  treatises.. 

■*  Acts.  viii.  20. 


381 

The  five  books  concerning  Consideration,*  addressed 
to  pope  Eugenius,  first  offer  themselves  to  our  inspec- 
tion. As  this  pontifFvvas  serious  in  his  religious  views^ 
he  had  desired  Bernard  to  send  to  him  some  salutary 
admonitions.  The  honest  plainness  of  the  abbot  was  at 
least  equal  to  the  unaffected  humility  of  the  pontiff. 
The  first  book  is  taken  up  with  salutary  cautions 
against  that  hardness  of  heart,  which  an  immenftty  of 
business  is  is  ever  apt  to  produce.  Bernard,  who  knew 
the  toilsome  life  of  a  pope,  and  the  snares  with  which 
he  was  daily  encompassed,  informs  Eugenius,  that 
he  was  seriously  afraid,  lest,  through  a  despair  of 
managing  a  prodigious  and  unmeasurable  course  of 
business  with  a  good  consience,  he  should  be  tempted 
to  harden  his  heart,  and  deprive  himself  of  all  consci- 
entious sensibility.  "Begin  not,"  says  he,  "  to  ask 
what  is  meant  by  hardness  of  heart.  If  you  fear  it  not, 
you  are  already  under  its  power.  That  is  a  hard  heart, 
which  dreads  not  itself,  because  it  is  destitute  of  feel- 
ing. Why  do  you  ask  me  what  it  is?  ask  Pharaoh. 
No  man  was  ever  saved  from  this  curse,  but  through 
that  divine  compassion,  whicH  according  to  the  pro- 
phet,! takes  away  the  stone,  and  gives  an  heart  of 
flesh."  After  a  graphical  description  of  the  properties 
of  a  hard  heart,  he  sums  up  the  view  with  this  sen- 
tence: It  neither  fears  God,  nor  regards  man.  See,  to 
what  end  these  accursed  occupations  will  lead  you, 
if  you  give  yourself  wholly  to  them,  leaving  nothing  of 
yourself  to  yourself.  He  complains  of  the  usual  mode 
of  the  pontifical  life,  incessantly  taken  up  with  hearing 
and  deciding  causes;  whence  no  room  is  left  for  pray- 
er, teaching,  and  instructing  the  church,  and  medita- 
tion on  the  scriptures.  "  The  voice  of  law,  indeed,  is 
perpetually  sounding  in  the  court,  but  it  is  the  law  of 
•Tustinian,  not  of  the/.or^/."  He  advises  him  to  pity  him- 
self, and  not  to  throw  his  own  soul  out  of  the  list  of  his 
objects  of  charity,  lest,  in  serving  others  perpetually, 
he  neglect   his  own  spiritual  condition  entirely.  He 

•Vo].  i.  p.  414.  t  Ezek.  xxxvi.  26. 

Vol.  III.  49 


382 

directs  him  to  suppress  and  cut  short  the  endless  frauds 
and  cavils  of  law,  with  which  the  courts  abounded;  to 
decide  in  a  summary  manner,  on  cases  evidently  plain; 
to  prefer  substantial  justice  to  the  tedious  parade  of 
artificial  formalities,  and  to  animadvert  with  severity 
on  the  frauds  of  advocates  and  proctors,  who  made  a 
traffic  of  iniquity.  By  this  means  he  would  fulfil  the 
duties  of  his  station  with  uprightness,  and  redeem 
lime  for  privacy,  contemplation,  and  prayer. 

In  all  this,  I  see  the  honest  and  pious  soul  of  Ber- 
nard struggling  against  the  corruption  of  the  times. 
But  the  zeal  was  ineffectual.  If  Gregory  I.  lamented 
the  load  of  his  secular  avocations,  much  more  might 
Eugenius,  who  lived  in  an  age  still  more  coiTupt,  and 
upheld  a  pontificate  still  more  secularized,  and  conta- 
minated beyond  all  bounds  by  a  system  of  iniquity. 
Even  others  less  exalted,  and  less  incommoded  with 
the  shackles  of  the  world  than  the  pope  of  Rome,  have 
found,  both  in  civil  and  ecclesiastical  life,  the  pressure 
of  business  too  heavy  for  their  minds.  If  they  were 
conscientious,  they  were  ready  to  sink  under  the  dif- 
ficulties; if  careless  and  indifferent  they  grew  hardened 
in  iniquity,  and  lost  all  regard  to  piety  and  virtue.  An 
inferior  clerical  station  is  infinitely  more  desirable  in 
the  eyes  of  a  pastor,  who  means  to  serve  God;  and 
dignitaries  in  the  church  may  attend  with  profit  to  the 
lectures  addressed  to  a  pope. 

In  the  beginning  of  the  second  book  he  makes  a 
digression  on  the  ill  success  of  the  expedition  to  the 
holy  land,  which  had  been  undertaken  through  the 
exhortations  of  himself  and  of  pope  Eugenius.  Here  the 
eloquence  of  Bernard  seems  to  be  at  a  stand.  He 
o^vns,  however,  with  reverence,  the  unsearchable  judg- 
ments of  God;  desires  to  take  shame  to  himself,  ra- 
ther than  that  the  glory  of  God  should  be  sullied; 
and  pronounces  that  man  happy,  who  is  not  offended 
at  an  event  so  disastrous  and  unexpected.  If  the 
casuistry  of  Bernard  appear  feeble  in  this  subject,  and 
expose  him  to  the  derision  of  the  profane,  his  humi- 
lity, however,  and  his  piety,  appear  unexceptionable. 


383 

Recovered,  as  it  were,  from  the  sadness  of  his  reflec- 
tions on  this  humiliating  occasion,  he  resumes  the  dis- 
course on  contemplation,  presses  on  the  pontift'  the 
duty  of  examining  himself,  and,  toward  the  end,  lays 
down  rules  of  holy  and  charitable  conversation,  de- 
serving the  attention  of  every  pastor. 

In  *  the  remaining  part  of  this  treatise,  as  well  as  in. 
that  which  follows  on  the  office  of  bishops,  the  zealous 
abbot  describes  and  enforces  the  episcopal  duties  with 
his  usual  vehemence.  He  is  particularly  severe  on  the 
ambition  of  ecclesiastics  in  his  time.  He  describes 
them  as  "  heaping  up  benefices  on  benefices,  and 
restless  till  they  can  attain  a  bishopric,  and  then  an 
archbishopric.  Nor,  says  he,  does  the  aspirant  stop 
there;  he  posts  to  Rome,  and,  by  supporting  expen- 
sive friendships  and  lucrative  connexions,  he  looks 
upward  still  to  the  summit  of  power."!  How  much 
more  usefully  might  the  spirit  of  Bernard  have  been 
employed  in  the  instruction  and  regulation  of  the 
church,  could  he  have  seen,  that  the  idolatrous  system, 
to  which  his  early  monastic  habits  had  attached  him, 
admitted  no  cure;  and  that  a  distinct  separation,  to 
which  men  really  wise  and  good  are  never  hasty  to 
advert,  was  yet,  in  present  circumstances,  justifiable 
and  necessary. 

The  zeal  of  Bernard  appears  also  very  fervent  in  a 
small  tract  concerning  conversion,  which  contained 
the  substance  of  a  sermon  preached  at  Paris  before 
the  clergy. J  He  insists  largely  and  distinctly  on  the 
necessity  of  divine  illumination,  in  order  to  genuine 
conversion.  He  exhorts  his  audience  to  selfexamina- 
tion ;  and,  while  he  presses  them  to  investigate  their 
own  breasts,  he  points  out  the  salutary  effects  of  a  just 
conviction  of  sin!  "  Blessed^  are  the  poor  in  spirit; 
for  theirs  is  the  kingdom  of  heaven.   Who  is  poorer 

'  It  may  be  proper  to  mention  here  :i  remarkable  testimony,  which  Bcv- 
nard  gives  to  the  upright  and  disinterested  conduct  of  Eugenius,  in  liis 
third  book  de  Consid.  Two  archbishops  of  Germany  coming  to  this  pope 
to  plead  a  cause,  oll'ered  him  large  presents,  which  he  refused  to  receive, 
and  obliged  them  to  send  back. 

t  p.  478.  t  P-  489.  §  Matt.  v.  3. 


384 

in  spirit  than  he,  who  finds  in  himelf  no  rest,  no  place 
where  to  lay  his  h^ad?  This  is  the  divine  economy, 
that  he  who  is  displeased  with  himself  may  please 
God;  and  he  who  hates  his  own  habitation,  a  house  of 
pollution  and  misery,  may  be  invited  to  a  house  of 
glory,  a  house  not  made  with  hands,  eternal  in  the 
heavens.  No  wonder,  that  he  finds  it  hard  to  believe! 
Does  misery  make  a  man  happy?  But  whoever  thou 
art,  in  these  circumstances,  doubt  not:  not  misery,  but 
mercy  gives  bliss;  but  then  the  proper  seat  of  mercy 
is  misery.  Thus  distress  of  mind  produces  humility. 
Wholesome  is  that  weakness,  which  needs  the  hand 
of  the  physician,  and  blessed  is  that  selfdespair, 
through  which  God  himself  will  raise  and  establish 
the  heart.  Even  here  the  converted  soul  shall  find  the 
pleasures  to  which  he  is  called  a  hundred  fold  greater 
than  those  which  he  has  relinquished,  as  well  as  in 
the  world  to  come,  eternal  life.  Expect  not  from  us  a 
description  of  their  nature.  The  Spirit  alone  reveals 
them:  they  are  to  be  known  only  by  experience.  Not 
erudition,  but  unction  teaches  here;  not  knowledge, 
but  inward  consciousness  comprehends  them.  That 
the  memory  of  past  sins  should  remain,  and  the  stain 
of  them  be  taken  away,  what  power  can  effect  this? 
The  word  alone,  quick  and  powerful,  and  sharper  than 
a  twoedged  sword.  "  Thy  sins  are  forgiven."  Let 
the  pharisee  murmur,  "  Who  can  forgive  sins,  but 
God  alone?"  He,  who  speaks  thus  to  me,  is  God.  His 
favour  blots  out  guilt,  so  that  sin  shall  remain  on  the 
memory,  but  no  longer,  as  before,  discolour  it.  Re- 
move damnation,  fear,  confusion,  as  they  are  removed 
by  full  remission;  and  our  past  sins  will  not  only  cease 
to  hurt  us,  but  will  also  work  together  for  good,  that 
we  may  devoutly  thank  Him,  who  has  forgiven  them." 
With  such  energy  of  evangelical  piety  does  Bernard 
preach  the  doctrines  of  grace  and  conversion  to  the 
clergy;  an  energy  sullied,  indeed,  and  obscured  with 
that  mysticism,  which  the  solitude  of  monks  always 
encouraged,  yet  substantially  sound  in  its  nature,  and 
founded  on  the  fundamental  truths  of  the  gospel. 


385 

Toward  the  close,  he  rebukes  and  exhorts  the  clergy 
as  such,  and  bewails  that  intemperate  ambition,  which 
moved,  and  may  I  not  say,  still  moves,  so  many  to 
precipitate  themselves  into  divine  functions  from  sec- 
ular views.  Let  a  sentence  or  two  on  this  subject  close 
our  review  of  this  sermon,  and  let  those  apply  the  re- 
buke to  themselves,  whose  practice  seems  to  speak 
this  language,  namely,  that  the  ministry  is  the  only 
office  in  the  world,  in  which  presumption  is  a  virtue, 
and  modesty  a  vice.  "  Men  run  every  where  into  sa- 
cred orders,  and  catch  at  an  office  revered  by  spi- 
rits above,  without  reverence,  without  consideration; 
in  whom,  perhaps,  would  appear  the  foulest  abomina- 
tions, if  we  were,  according  to  Ezekiei's  prophecy,  to 
dig  into  the  walls,  and  contemplate  the  horrible  things 
which  take  place  in  the  house  of  God."* 

The  sermons  of  our  author  on  Solomon's  Song,  de- 
monstrate that  he  was  well  acquainted  with  vital  god- 
liness. In  the  36th  he  shows  the  various  w^ays  by  which 
knowledge  puffeth  up^f  "  Some,"  says  he,  "  wish  to 
know,  merely  for  the  sake  of  knowing:  a  mean  curio- 
sity. Some  wish  to  know,  that  they  themselves  may 
be  known:  a  mean  vanity.  Some  seek  for  knowledge 
from  lucrative  motives:  an  avaricious  baseness.  Some 
desire  to  know,  that  they  may  edify  their  neighbour: 
this  is  charity.  Others,  that  they  may  be  edified,  this 
is  wisdom."  On  the  whole,  he  owns,  that  the  cultiva- 
tion of  knowledge  is  good  for  instruction,  but  that  the 
knowledge  of  our  own  weakness  is  more  useful  for 
salvation. 

In  the  74th  sermon  on  the  same  divine  book, J  Ber- 
nard lays  open  something  of  his  own  experience  on 
the  operations  of  the  holy  Spirit,  and  illustrates  our 
Saviour's  comparison  of  them  to  the  wind;  "thou 
knowest  not  whence  it  cometh,  and  whither  it  goeth."§ 
After  a  preamble,  full  of  cautious  modesty,  and  the 
most  unaffected  reverence,  he  says,  "  I  was  sensible, 
that  he  was  present  with  me;  I  remember  it  after  his 

*  Ezek.  viii.  p  498.         f  I'.  1404.         \  P.  15'i9.         §  ]ohr.,  iii 


386 

visits  were  over;  sometimes  I  had  a  presentiment  of 
his  entrance,  but  I  never  could  feel  his  entrance  or  his 
exit.  Whence  he  came,  and  whither  he  departed;  by 
what  way  he  entered  or  left  me,  I  confess  that  I  am 
even  now  ignorant:  and  no  wonder,  for  his  footsteps 
are  not  known.*  You  ask  then,  since  all  his  ways  are 
unsearchable,  whence  could  I  know  that  he  was 
present?  His  presence  was  living  and  powerful:  it 
awakened  my  slumbering  soul:  it  moved,  softened, 
and  wounded  my  heart  which  had  been  hard,  stony, 
and  distempered.  It  watered  the  dry  places,  illumi- 
nated the  dark,  opened  those  which  were  shut,  inflamed 
the  cold,  made  the  crooked  straight,  and  the  rough 
ways  plain;  so  that  my  soul  blessed  the  Lord,  and  all 
that  was  within  me  praised  his  holy  name.  I  had  no 
evidence  of  the  Lord's  presence  with  me  by  any  of 
the  senses;  only  from  the  motion  of  m}*  heart,  I  un- 
derstood that  he  was  with  me;  and,  from  the  expulsion 
of  vices,  and  the  suppression  of  carnal  affections,  I 
perceived  the  strength  of  his  power:  from  the  discern- 
ment and  conviction  of  the  very  intents  of  my  heart, 
I  admired  the  depth  of  his  wisdom:  from  some  little 
improvement  of  my  temper  and  'conduct  I  experi- 
enced the  goodness  of  his  grace:  from  the  renovation 
of  my  inward  man,  I  perceived  the  comeliness  of  his 
beauty;  and  from  the  joint  contemplation  of  all  these 
things  I  trembled  at  his  majestic  greatness.  But  be- 
cause all  these  things,  on  his  departure,  became  torpid 
and  cold,  just  as  if  you  withdrew  lire  from  a  boiling 
pot,  I  had  a  signal  of  his  departure.  My  soul  must  be 
sad,  till  he  return;  and  my  heart  is  again  inflamed  with 
his  love,  and  let  that  be  the  evidence  of  his  return. 
With  such  experience  of  the  divine  word,  if  I  use  the 
language  of  the  spouse,  in  recalling  him,  when  he  shall 
absent  himself;  while  I  live,  her  word,  '' return,"! 
shall  be  familiar  to  me.  As  often  as  he  leaves  me,  so 
often  shall  he  be  recalled,  that  he  mav  restore  to  me 
the  joy  of  his  salvation;  that  is,  that  he  may  restore  to 

*  Ps.  IxxTi.  10.  f  Canticles,  vi.  13. 


387 

me  himself.  Nothing  else  is  pleasing,  while  he  is  ab- 
sent, who  alone  is  pleasure:  and  I  pray  that  he  may  not 
come  empty,  but  full  of  grace  and  truth,  as  he  was 
wont  to  do."  Then  he  goes  on  to  explain  the  well 
tempered  mixture  of  gravity  and  delight,  of  fear  and 
joy,  of  which  all  true  converts  are  the  subjects;  and  he 
supports  his  description  by  that  apposite  quotation, 
"  Serve  the  Lord  with  fear,  and  rejoice  unto  him  with 
trembling."* 

It  appeared  not  impertinent  to  the  design  of  a  histo- 
ry like  this,  to  lay  before  the  reader  the  inmost  soul  of 
a  saint  of  the  twelfth  century,  confessing  and  describ- 
ing the  vicissitudes  of  spiritual  consolations  and  de- 
clensions, which,  with  more  or  less  varieties,  in  all 
ages  of  the  church  are  known  to  real  christians.  I 
know  that  much  caution  is  necessary  in  speaking  of 
them;  but  if  we  speak  according  to  the  divine  oracles, 
as  Bernard  seems  to  do,  it  should  be  a  small  thing 
with  us  to  be  judged  of  man's  judgment.  The  doc- 
trine of  regeneration  itself,  with  all  the  mixed  effects 
of  spiritual  health  and  sickness,  in  a  fallen  creature,  is 
foolishness  to  the  natural  man.f  If  any  man,  however, 
have  not  the  spirit  of  Christ,  he  is  none  of  his.  J  It  will 
be  the  wisdom  of  mere  nominal  christians,  not  to  de- 
ride, but  to  seek  for  the  holy  Spirit,  and  while  godly 
souls  estimate  his  presence  or  his  absence,  by  such 
marks  and  effects  as  Bernard  describes,  they  will  not 
only  be  free  from  enthusiasm,  but  will  also  make  it 
their  constant  aim,  not  to  grieve  the  Spirit  of  God,  by 
which  they  are  sealed  to  the  day  of  redemption. 

In  ^  the  78th  sermon  on  the  canticles,  he  de- 
scribes the  church  as  predestinated  before  all  time, 
that  it  should  be  the  spouse  of  Christ,  and  supports 
his  observation  from  the  words  of  St.  Paul.  ||  He  speaks 
of  the  influence  of  the  holy  Spirit,  and  of  the  conver- 
sion of  sinners  as  the  effect  of  this  predestination. 
"  Yet  Emmanuel,"  says  he,  "  is  the  personage,  who 

*  Ps.  ii.  11.  tICor.ii.  t  Rom'^iii.  <5.P.  lo41 

!|  Eph.  i.  former  part. 


388 

was  of  us,  and  for  us  was  clothed  with  our  curse,  and 
had  the  appearance,  not  thereaHty  of  our  shi." 

In  a  sermon  on  the  beginning  of  the  91st  psalm,  he 
answers  a  question,  which  obviously  arises  to  the  mind 
of  a  serious  person  exercised  in  experimental  godli- 
ness. Both  the  question  and  the  answer  will  deserve  to 
be  given  in  the  author's  own  words.  "  What  is  the 
reason,  that  though  we  pray  and  supplicate  incessantly, 
we  cannot  attain  that  abundance  of  grace,  which  we  de- 
sire? Think  you  that  God  is  become  avaricious  or  in- 
digent, impotent,  or  inexorable?  Far,  far  from  us  be 
the  thought:  but  he  knows  our  frame.  We  must  not 
therefore,  cease  from  petitioning,  because  though  he 
gives  not  to  satiety,  he  gives  what  is  needful  for  sup- 
port; though  he  guards  us  against  excessive  heat,  he 
cherishes  us,  as  a  mother,  with  his  warmth.  As  the 
mother  sees  the  hawk  approaching  and  expands  her 
wings  that  her  young  ones  may  enter  and  find  a  safe 
refuge,  so  his  bosom  being  prepared,  and  as  it  were, 
dilated  for  us,  the  ineffable  kindness  of  our  God  is  ex- 
tended over  us.  This  is  a  dispensation  adapted  to  the 
infirmity  of  our  condition;  even  grace  itself  must  be 
moderated,  lest  we  fall  into  an  undue  elevation  of 
mind,  or  a  precipitate  indiscretion. *^ 

*'  Do  you  trust  that  you  are  inwardly  moved  by  the 
Holyghost?"  is  the  serious  question,  which  the  church 
of  England  asks  of  all  her  candidates  for  the  ministry. 
Let  him,  who  would  answer  it  conscientiously,  ask 
his  own  heart,  what  he  feels  of  Bernard's  description, 
which,  if  not  an  accurate  answer  to  the  question,  may, 
however,  furnish  the  attentive  reader  with  some  saluta- 
ry contemplations.  "  He  who  is  called  to  instruct  souls, 
is  called  of  God,  and  not  by  his  own  ambition;  and 
what  is  this  call,  but  an  inward  incentive  of  love,  soli- 
citing us  to  be  zealous  for  the  salvation  of  our  breth- 
ren? So  often  as  he,  who  is  engaged  in  preaching  the 
word,  shall  feel  his  inward  man  to  be  excited  with 

*  B.2.  C.  15.  Florum  Bernardi-  A  small  treatise  in  which  are  estracte?: 
iome  of  the  most  beautiful  passag'es  of  this  author. 


589 

divine  affections,  so  often  let  him  assure  himself  that 
God  is  there,  and  that  he  is  invited  by  him  to  seek  the 
good  of  souls.  Truly,  I  love  to  hear  that  preacher, 
who  does  not  move  me  to  applaud  his  eloquence,  but 
to  groan  for  my  sins.  Efficacy  will  be  given  to  your 
voice,  if  you  appear  to  be  yourself  persuaded  of  that, 
to  which  you  advise  me.  That  common  rebuke  will 
then  at  least  belong  not  to  you;  "  thou  who  teachest 
another,  teachest  thou  not  thyself?"* 

See  how  divinely  he  describes  the  grace  of  God  in 
the  gospel.  "  Happy  is  he  alone,  to  whom  the  Lord 
imputeth  not  sin.  To  have  him  propitious  to  me, 
against  whom  alone  I  have  sinned,  suffices  for  all  my 
righteousness.  Not  to  impute  my  sins,  is,  as  it  were, 
to  blot  out  their  existence.  If  my  iniquity  is  great,  thy 
grace  is  much  greater.  When  my  soul  is  troubled  at 
the  view  of  her  sinfulness,  I  look  at  thy  mercy,  and 
am  refreshed.  It  lies  in  common;  it  is  offered  to  all, 
and  he  only  who  rejects  it,  is  deprived  of  its  benefit. 
Let  him  rejoice,  who  feels  himself  a  wretch  deserving 
of  perpetual  damnation.  For  the  grace  of  Jesus  still 
exceeds  the  quantity  or  number  of  all  crimes.  My 
punishment,  says  Cain,  is  too  great  for  me  to  expect 
pardon.  Far  be  the  thought.  The  grace  of  God  is 
greater  than  any  iniquity  whatever.  He  is  really  kind 
and  merciful,  plenteous  in  goodness,  ready  to  forgive. 
His  very  nature  is  goodness,  his  property  is  to  have 
mercy.  Indeed  he  hath  mercy  on  whom  he  will  have 
mercy,  and,  whom  he  will,  he  hardeneth.  But  mercy 
he  draws  from  his  own  nature;  condemnation  is  a  work 
to  which  we  in  a  measure  compel  him.  He  is,  there- 
fore,  not   called   the   father   of  vengeance,    but   the 

FATHER     OF     MERCIES."! 

The  following  thought,  concerning  temptations,  is 
striking.  *'  In  creation,  in  redemption,  and  other  com- 
mon benefits,  God  is  common  to  all;  in  temptations, 
the  elect  have  him  to  themselves.  With  such  special 
care  does  he  support  and  deliver,  that  he  may  seem, 

»  In  cantic.  serm.  58.  p.  156.  Florum.  f  From  various  serm.  flor.  229 

Vol.  IIL  50 


S90 

as  it  were,  neglecting  all  others,  to  confine  his  care  to 
the  tempted  soul."* 

We  have  already  given  a  small  specimen  of  his  own 
experience,  in  regard  to  the  various  operations  of  the 
holy  Spirit.  From  different  sermons  we  may  now  see 
the  practical  use,  which  he  makes  of  the  doctrine. 
"•  It  is  a  dangerous  thing,"  says  he,  "  to  be  insensible 
of  the  presence,  or  absence  of  the  holy  Spirit.  For  how 
shall  his  presence  be  sought,  whose  absence  is  not 
known?  and  how  shall  he,  who  returns  to  console  us, 
be  worthily  received,  if  his  presence  be  not  felt?  May 
the  unction,  therefore,  be  never  removed  from  us,  the 
unctionf  which  teaches  us  of  all  things,  that  when  the 
holy  Spirit  comes,  he  may  find  us  ready.  He  who 
walks  in  the  Spirit,  never  remains  in  one  state.  His 
way  is  not  in  himself;  but  as  the  Spirit  dispenses  to 
him,  as  he  will,  now  more  faintly,  now  more  eagerly, 
he  forgets  the  things  which  are  behind,  and  reaches 
forth  to  the  things  which  are  before.  Distrust  not, 
when  thou  findest  weariness  and  torpor;  seek  the  hand 
of  thy  guide,  beseeching  him  to  draw  thee,  till  thou  be 
enabled  to  run  the  way  of  God's  commandments.  And, 
on  the  other  hand,  beware  of  presumptuous  confi- 
dence, when  thou  walkest  in  the  light  of  divine  conso- 
lation, lest,  when  he  withdraws  his  hand,  thou  be 
more  dejected  than  it  becomes  a  christian  to  be. "J 

The  divine  life  was  then,  it  seems,  understood  in 
the  twelfth  century;  that  same  life,  which  is  felt  in  all 
ages  by  holy  men,  which  has  its  foundations  in  the 
genuine  doctrines  of  grace,  which  alone  produces  true 
virtue  upon  earth,  which  is  the  comfort  of  real  chris- 
tians, and  the  ridicule  of  mere  philosophers,  whether 
nominally  christians  or  not,  and  which  will  issue  in 
heavenly  glory.  That  after  the  greatest  attainments 
and  the  most  earnest  efforts,  a  christian  should  still 
feel  himself  infected  with  sin,  has  often  been  matter  of 
great  vexation  and  surprise  to  the  most  pious  and 
die  most  intelligent  persons.    Great  mistakes  have 

•  Flor.  257.  f  1  John,  ii.  2T.  X  Id.  44,  &c- 


391 

been  committed  on  this  subject;  some  have,  at  length, 
induced  themselves  to  believe,  that  indwelling  sin  has 
been  totally  expelled  from  their  breasts;  others  have 
given  themselves  up  to  unprofitable  solicitude  and 
dejection.  A  great  part  of  the  mystery  of  practical 
godliness  lies,  no  doubt,  in  the  due  conception  of 
the  case,  and  in  the  practical  regulation  of  the  heart, 
concerning  it.  Let  us  hear  Bernard  on  this  point; 
he  speaks  in  unison  with  the  soundest  christians  in 
all  ages;  and,  what  is  more,  with  St.  Paul  in  Rom. 
vii.  "  Let  no  man  say  in  his  heart,  these  are  small 
evils;  I  care  not  for  them;  it  is  no  great  matter,  if  I 
remain  in  these  venial  sins.  This  is  blasphemy  against 
the  Holyghost,  and  confirmed  impenitence.  On  the 
other  hand,  evil  cannot  altogether  be  eradicated  or  ex- 
tirpated from  our  hearts,  while  we  are  in  the  world. 
However  great  thy  proficiency,  thou  art  mistaken,  if 
thou  think  sin  to  be  dead.  Whether  thou  wilt  or  not, 
the  Jebusite  will  dwell  within  thy  borders.  He  may  be 
subdued,  not  exterminated.  Sin,  the  disease  of  the  soul, 
cannot  be  taken  away,  till  we  are  freed  from  the  body. 
By  the  grace  of  God  it  may  be  repressed,  that  it  shall 
not  REIGN  in  us,  but  is  ejected  only  at  death.  In 
many  things  we  offend  all:*  let  no  man  despise  or 
neglect  these  evils;  nor  yet  should  the  christian  be  too 
solicitous  concerning  them;  he  will  forgive  us,  even 
with  pleasure,  provided  we  confess  our  guilt.  In  these 
evils  of  daily  incursion,  negligence  is  culpable,  and 
so  is  immoderate  fear;  for  there  is  no  condemnation  to 
those,  who  are  in  Christ  Jesus,|  and  who  consent  not 
to  the  motions  of  concupiscence.  That  we  may  be 
humbled,  the  Lord  suffers  concupiscence  itself  still  to 
live  in  us;  and  grievously  to  afflict  us,  that  we  may 
feel  what  grace  can  do  for  us,  and  may  always  have 
recourse  to  his  aid."|  Such  were  the  humble  senti- 
ments of  this  holy  personage  concerning  this  subject, 
and  so  equally  remote  was  he  from  the  delusive  pride 
of  the  perfectionist,  and  the  flagitious  negligence  of 
the  antinomian. 

*  James,  ui.  2,  f  Rom.  viil.  1.  J  Flor.  373. 


392 

I  shall  conclude  this  review  of  Bernard's  works, 
with  a  short  extract,*  which  expresses  the  foundation 
of  his  christian  hope;  and  it  is  that,  in  which  all  real 
christians,  in  all  ages,  will  cordially  concur  with  him. 
"  I  consider  three  things,  in  which  all  my  hope  con- 
sists, the  love  of  adoption,  the  truth  of  the  promise, 
and  the  power  of  performance.  Let  my  foolish  heart 
murmur  as  much  as  it  please,  and  say  "  Who  art 
thou,  and  how  great  is  that  glory,  or  by  what  merits 
dost  thou  expect  to  obtain  it?  I  will  confidently  an- 
swer, I  know  whom  I  have  believed,  and  I  am  certain 
that  he  hath  adopted  me  in  love;  that  he  is  true  in 
promise;  that  he  is  powerful  to  fulfil  it;  for  he  can  do 
what  he  pleaseth.  This  is  the  threefold  cord,  which 
is  not  easily  broken,  which  being  let  down  to  us  from 
our  heavenly  country  to  earth,  I  pray  that  we  may 
firmly  hold,  and  may  he  himself  lift  us  up,  and  draw 
us  completely  to  the  glory  of  God,  who  is  blessed 
for  ever." 


CHAP.  V. 

Death  and  Character  of  Bernard. 

IN  O  one  of  the  ancient  fathers  seems  to  have  had  so 
litile  justice  done  to  his  memory  as  Bernard.  He  lived 
in  an  age  so  ignorant  and  superstitious,  that  protest- 
ants  are  ready  to  ask,  can  any  good  thing  come  out 
of  the  twelfth  century?  It  is  difficult,  indeed,  to 
say,  whether  he  has  been  more  injured  by  the  ex- 
travagant encomiums  of  some,  or  by  the  illiberal 
censures  of  others.  Even  the  fictitious  miracles,  of 
which  the  wretched  accounts  of  his  biographers  are 
full,  indirectly  asperse  his  character,  and  by  no  un- 
common association  of  ideas,  seem  to  detract  all  cre- 
dibility from  the  best  attested  narratives  of  his  piety 

*  DeEvang.  Serm.  3. 


393 

and  virtue.  While  then  papists  represent  him  as  an 
angel,  and  protestants  as  a  narrow  bigot,  or  a  furious 
zealot,  those,  who  know  nothing  more  of  him  than 
what  they  have  learned  from  the  prejudice  of  oppo- 
site extremes,  are  tempted  to  think  him  an  object 
worthy  of  contempt,  if  not  of  detestation. 

The  great  Roman  historian,  in  a  beautiful  fragment 
preserved  to  us  concerning  the  death  of  Cicero,  ob- 
serves, that  to  celebrate  his  character,  as  it  deserves, 
a  Cicero  himself  should  be  found  as  panegyrist.*  A 
somewhat  similar  observation  may  be  made  concern- 
ing Bernard;  and  happily  his  voluminous  writings, 
which  have  escaped  the  ravages  of  time,  vindicate  his 
reputation,  and  exhibit  him  to  us  with  faithlulness  and 
accuracy.  It  was  necessary  to  be  brief  in  my  extracts; 
else  much  more  numerous  proofs  of  his  genuine  piety, 
htimility,  and  charity,  than  those  which  the  rea- 
der hath  already  seen,  might  have  been  adduced.  Nor 
have  I  concealed  his  superstitious  turn  of  mind,  and 
the  unhappy  prejudices,  which  induced  him  to  cen- 
sure some  of  those,  of  whom  "  the  world  was  not 
worthy,"  and  with  whose  true  character  he  was  unac- 
quainted. He  was  deeply  tinged  with  a  ]M-edilection 
for  the  Roman  hierarchy;  he  had  imbibed  most  of 
those  errors  of  his  time,  which  were  not  directly  sub- 
versive of  the  gospel;  and  the  monastic  character, 
which,  according  to  the  spirit  of  the  age,  appeared  to 
be  the  greatest  glory,  seems  to  have  much  eclipsed 
his  real  virtues,  and  prevented  his  progress  in  true 
evangelical  wisdom. 

But  if  we  strip  him  of  the  ascetic  vest,  and  consi- 
der the  interior  endowments,  he  will  appear  to  have 
been  no  mean  or  ordinary  character.  His  learning  was 
but  moderate;  his  understanding  was  solid,  and  his 
judgment  seldom  erred  in  subjects  or  cases,  where 
the  prejudices  of  the  age  did  not  warp  the  imagina- 
tion. His  genius  was  truly  sublime,  his  temper  san- 
guine,  his  mind  active  and  vigorous.   The  love  of 

*  Cicerone  quidem  laudatore  opus  asset.  Liv.  fragm. 


^^  394 

God  appears  to  have  taken  deep  root  in  his  soul,  and 
seems  to  have  been  always  steady,  though  always  ar- 
dent. His  charity  was  equal  to  his  zeal;  and  his  ten- 
derness and  compassion  to  christian  brethren  went 
hand  in  hand  with  his  severity  against  the  heretical, 
the  profane,  and  the  vicious.  In  humility,  he  was  tru- 
ly admirable;  he  scarce  seems  to  have  felt  a  glimpse 
of  pleasure  on  account  of  the  extravagant  praises  every 
where  bestowed  upon  him.  His  heart  felt  dependence 
on  Christ,  and  his  heavenly  affections  were  incontesti- 
bly  strong.  He  united  much  true  christian  knowledge, 
with  much  superstition;  and  this  can  hardly  be  ac- 
counted for  on  any  other  supposition,  than  that  he  was 
directed  by  an  influence  truly  divine.  For  there  is  not 
an  essential  doctrine  of  the  gospel,  which  he  did  not 
embrace  with  zeal,  defend  by  argument,  and  adorn 
by  life.  Socinianism  in  particular,  under  God,  was  by 
his  means  nipped  in  the  bud,  and  prevented  from 
thriving  in  the  christian  world.  Such  was  Bernard, 
who  is  generally  called  the  last  of  the  fathers. 

The  accounts  of  his  death,  considered  as  composi- 
tions, are  no  less  disgusting  to  a  taste  of  tolerable  cor- 
rectness, than  those  of  his  life.  While  his  friends 
admired  him  as  an  angel,  he  felt  himself,  by  nature, 
a  sinful  fallen  creature.  He  was  about  sixty-three  years 
old,  when  he  died  of  a  disease  in  the  stomach.  A  let- 
ter, which  he  dictated  to  a  friend,  a  very  few  days 
before  his  decease,  will  be  worth  our  attention,  as  a 
genuine  monument  of  that  simplicity,  modesty,  and 
piety,  which  had  adorned  his  conversation.  "  I  recei- 
ved your  love,  with  affection,  I  cannot  say  with  plea- 
sure; for  what  pleasure  can  there  be  to  a  person  in 
my  circumstances,  replete  with  bitterness?  To  eat 
nothing  solid,  is  the  only  way  to  preserve  myself  tole- 
rably easy.  My  sensitive  powers  admit  of  no  further 
pleasure.  Sleep  hath  departed  from  my  eyes,  and  pre- 
vented the  least  intermission  of  my  pain.  Stomachic 
weakness  is,  as  it  were,  the  sum  total  of  my  afflic- 
tions. By  day  and  night  I  receive  a  small  portion  of 
liquids.  Every  thing  solid,  the  stomach  rejects.  The 


395 

very  scanty  supply,  which  I  now  and  then  receive,  is 
painful;  but  perfect  emptiness  would  be  still  more  so. 
If  now  and  then  I  take  in  a  larger  quantity,  the  effect 
is  most  distressing.  My  legs  and  feet  are  swoln,  as  in 
a  dropsy.  In  the  midst  of  these  afflictions,  that  I  may 
hide  nothing  from  an  anxious  friend,  in  my  inner 
man  (I  speak  as  a  vulgar  person)  the  spirit  is  ready, 
though  the  flesh  be  weak.  Pray  ye  to  the  Saviour,  who 
willeth  not  the  death  of  a  sinner,  that  he  would  not 
delay  my  timely  exit,  but  that  still  he  would  guard  it. 
Fortify  with  your  prayers  a  poor  unworthy  creature, 
that  the  enemy  who  lies  in  wait,  may  find  no  place 
where  he  may  fix  his  tooth,  and  inflict  a  wound. 
These  words  I  have  dictated,  but  in  such  a  manner, 
that  ye  may  know  my  aflfection  by  a  hand  well  known 
to  you."*  Such  were  the  dying  circumstances  of  this 
excellent  saint.  So  peculiarly  were  they  disposed,  that 
they  seemed  to  rebuke  the  ignorant  admiration  of  his 
friends;  and  thus,  through  faith  and  patience,  did  he  at 
length,  inherit  the  promises. 


CHAP.  VI. 

General  State  of  the  Church  in  this  Century. 

1  HIS  may,  in  a  great  measure,  be  collected  so  far  as 
the  Latin  church  is  concerned,  from  the  copious  ac- 
count, which  has  been  given  of  Bernard.  Of  the  Greek 
church  hardly  any  thing  occurs  which  properly  falls 
within  the  design  of  this  history.  Superstition,  idola- 
try, frivolous  contentions,  and  metaphysical  niceties, 
attended  with  a  lamentable  want  of  true  piety  and  vir- 
tue, form  almost  the  whole  of  the  religious  phenomena 
in  the  east. 

In  this  chaos  of  the  church,  I  can  only  mention  a  few 
facts  and  circumstances,  which  may  throw  some  lights 

*  Vol.  ii.  p.  iiro 


596 

on  its  general  state;  and  they  shall  be  such  as  have  not 
been  con  Jdered  in  the  history  of  Bernard,  nor  direct- 
ly relate  to  the  waldenses,  whose  affairs  commenced 
in  the  latter  part  of  this  century,  but  will  deserve  a 
distinct  narration. 

Just  at  the  close  of  the  foregoing  century,  pope  Ur- 
ban held  a  synod  of  one  hundred  and  fifty  bishops,  in 
order  to  promote  the  crusades,  and  exhorted  the  chris- 
tian world  to  concur  in  supporting  the  same  cause. 
He  died  in  the  year  1099,  and  Jerusalem  was  taken  by 
the  crusaders  in  the  same  year.*  The  pale  of  the  visi- 
ble church  was  extended  by  the  conquests  of  the  west- 
ern warriors,  and  several  episcopal  sees  were  again 
formed  in  regions,  whence  the  light  of  the  gospel  had 
first  arisen  to  bless  mankind.  But  these  were  of  short 
duration;  and,  what  is  much  more  material  to  be  ob- 
served, while  they  continued,  they  gave  no  evidence, 
that  I  can  find,  of  the  spirit  of  true  religion.  This  is  a 
circumstance  which  throws  a  very  unpleasing  shade  on 
the  whole  character  of  the  fanatical  war,  which  at  that 
time  agitated  both  Europe  and  Asia.  I  have  exculpat- 
ed the  western  christians  from  the  charge  of  positive 
injustice  in  undertaking  it;  in  every  other  light  it  de- 
serves much  of  the  asperity  of  the  censure,  with  which 
modern  authors  in  general  agree  to  treat  it.  Among 
a  thousand  evils  which  it  produced,  or  at  least  encou- 
raged, this  was  one,  namely,  that  indulgences  were 
now  diffused  by  the  popes  through  Europe,  for  the 
purpose  of  promoting  what  they  called  the  holy 
war.  These  had  indeed  been  sold  before  by  the  in- 
ferior dignitaries  of  the  church,  who,  for  money,  re- 
mitted the  penalties  imposed  on  trangressors:  they  had 
not,  however,  pretended  to  abolish  the  punishments, 
which  await  the  wicked  in  a  future  state.  This  impiety 
was  reserved  to  the  pope  himself,  who  dared  to  usurp 
the  authority,  which  belongs  to  God  alone.  The  cor- 
ruption having  once  taken  place,  remained  and  even 
increased  from  age  to  age,  till  the  time  of  the  reformat 

*  Buronius,  cent.  xii. 


S97 

fion.  It  is  needless  to  say,  how  subversive  of  all  piety 
and  virtue  this  practice  must  have  been.  That  the 
romanists  did  really  promote  this  impious  traffic,  is 
but  too  evident  from  their  own  writers.  *^  Hence  the 
strict  propriety  of  St.  Paul's  representation  of  the  man 

of  sin,  AS   SHOWING  HIMSELF   THAT   HE    IS  GoD,t  IS 

evinced;  hence,  the  characters  of  those,  who  opposed 
the  power  and  doctrine  of  popery  in  those  times,  re- 
ceive the  most  ample  vindication,  and  hence  the  merit 
of  the  reformation  itself  may,  in  a  great  measure,  be 
appreciated.  I  only  add,  that  the  whole  discipline  of 
the  church  was  now  dissolved,  and  men,  who  had 
means  to  purchase  a  licence  to  sin,  were  emboldened 
to  let  loose  the  reins  of  vice,  and  follow  at  large,  their 
own  desires  and  imaginations. 

Nor  were  these  evils  compensated  by  some  other 
circumstances,  which  tended  to  promote  the  revi- 
val of  learning  in  this  age.  Gratian,  a  native  of  Tus- 
cany and  a  monk  of  Bologna,  made  the  famous  col- 
lection of  canon  laws,  and  published  them  in  1151. 
His  work  was  much  facilitated  by  the  discovery  of 
the  pandect  of  the  emperor  Justinian,  which  took  place 
in  11374  Ecclesiastical  causes  were  henceforward 
tried  by  the  canon  law.  The  degrees  of  bachelor,  li- 
centiate, and  doctor,  degrees  mentioned  by  no  writer 
before  the  time  of  Gratian,  were  instituted  by  pope 
Eugenius  III.  the  disciple  of  Bernard,  to  encourage 
the  study  of  this  science.  But  they  were  soon  after 
introduced  at  Paris  by  Peter  Lombard,  who  was  called 
the  master  of  the  sentences,  and  were  bestowed  on 
students  of  divinity,  as  well  as  of  law.  For  Lombard 
was  supposed  to  have  performed  the  same  service  to 
divinity,  which  Gratian  his  contemporary  had  done  to 
law.  Paris  and  Bologna,  the  former  in  divinity,  and 
the  latter  in  law,  were  now  looked  on  as  the  greatest 

•  See  Mosheim,  cent.  xii.  p.  595.  Qii  edit.  Morinus,  Simon,  and 
Mabillon,  are  the  popisli  authors,  who  are  not  ashamed  to  vindicate  this 
system  of  iniquity. 

t  2  Thess.  ii. 

^Mosheim,  cent.  xii.  p.  567.  Bower's  Lives  of  Popes,  vol.  vi,  p.  69.  D". 
Pin,  cent.  xii.  chap,  xvij 

Vol.  in.  51 


398 

semiuaries  in  Europe.  In  this  revival  of  learning,  our 
own  island  also  bore  a  part.  The  university  of  Ox- 
ford, which  had  been  founded  in  the  time  of  Alfred, 
and  had  suffered  much  from  the  ravages  of  the  Danes, 
came  to  a  considerable  degree  of  eminence  in  this  cen- 
tury. The  learning,  as  well  as  the  impiety  of  the  con- 
tinent, passed  into  England,  and  we  shall  shortly  see 
a  dreadful  instance  of  the  effects  of  both  appearing  in 
the  university  last  mentioned.  For  while  the  real  word 
of  God  Avas  generally  neglected,  and  the  salutary  doc- 
trine of  the  gospel  was  buried  in  darkness,  the  literary 
improvements  of  the  times  might  sharpen  the  intel- 
lectual faculties,  but  could  produce  no  benign  effects 
on  the  manners  of  mankind.  To  finish  the  brief  detail 
of  the  progress  of  learning,  1  shall  add,  that  Cambridge 
had  begun  to  be  a  seminary  of  learning,  some  little 
time  after  Oxford,  but  in  that  view  had  been  quite 
oppressed  by  the  incursions  of  the  Danes.  It  revived, 
however,  in  some  degree  about  the  year  1109,  when 
Gislebert,  with  three  other  monks,  was  sent  by 
the  abbot  of  Croyland  to  his  manor  of  Cottenham, 
near  Cambridge.  These  monks  went  every  day  to 
Cambridge,  where  they  hired  a  barn,  as  a  convenient 
place  for  public  lectures.  One  read  grammar  in  the 
morning,  a  second  read  logic  at  one  o'clock,  and  a 
third,  at  three  in  the  afternoon,  gave  lectures  on  rhe- 
toric from  Tully  and  Quintilian.  Gislebert  himself 
preached  on  Sundays  and  other  holidays.  The  barn 
was  soon  found  insufficient  to  contain  the  auditors; 
and,  therefore,  accommodations  were  provided  for  the 
labours  of  these  men  in  different  parts  of  the  town. 
Such  is  the  account  which  Peter  of  Blois  gives  of  the 
infant  state  of  learning  in  the  university  of  Cambridge. 
The  laudable  passion  for  intellectual  improvement 
was  strong  in  this  century.  In  the  room  of  the  fathers 
succeeded  the  schoolmen,  whose  theology  was  found- 
ed by  Peter  Lombard.  A  metaphysical  subtilty  per- 
vaded their  investigations,  and  they  were  idolized 
by  the  ignorant,  among  whom  should  be  ranked  the 
nobility  of  that  age,  almost  as  much  as  the  plebeians. 


399 

The  human  mind,  however,  by  exercise  recovered  a 
new  tone  and  vigor;  but  learning  could  not  commu- 
nicate grace,  nor  even  enable  men  to  see  the  folly  of 
enslaving  themselves  to  the  popedom.  The  influence 
of  the  bishop  of  Rome  grew  prodigious:  the  emperors 
of  Germany  trembled  under  the  rod;  and  some  of  the 
bravest  and  wisest  of  the  English  princes  were  found 
unequal  to  a  contest  with  the  hierarchy.  But  to  dwell 
on  these  scenes,  would  be  to  forsake  the  path  of  church 
history. 

Where  then  was  the  church  of  Christ,  and  what 
"was  its  condition?  In  the  general  appearance  of  na- 
tional religion  she  was  not  to  be  discovered.  God  had, 
however,  his  secret  ones.  There  might  be,  and 
probably  there  were,  in  vulgar  life,  various  persons 
too  poor  and  too  insignificant  to  be  regarded  in  his- 
tory, who  feared  God  and  served  him  in  the  gospel  of 
his  son,  but  whom  an  humble  station  in  society  se- 
cured from  persecution.  There  were  also  here  and 
there  some  of  the  recluse,  who  practised  something 
better  than  superstition.  The  story  of  Bernard  has 
given  us  an  illustrious  instance.  In  the  west,  we  have 
seen  also  the  state  of  the  cathari,  who  formed  religi- 
ous societies  among  themselves.  These  increased  ex- 
ceedingly, and  assuming  a  new  name  much  better 
known  in  the  latter  part  of  the  century,*  were  ex- 
posed to  the  unrighteous  indignation  of  the  then 
reigning  powers,  both  in  church  and  state.  The  ac- 
count of  this  persecution  will  demand  our  particular 
attention,  when  we  come  to  the  next  century.  Thus 
the  church  of  Christ  had  a  real  existence  in  the  west, 
and  shone  as  a  light  in  a  dark  place.  In  the  east  it  is 
extremely  difficult  to  discover  the  least  vestiges  of 
genuine  piety.  It  is  probable,  however,  that  the  church 
existed  among  the  remains  of  the  paulicians.  For  in 
the  year  1118,  Alexius  Comnenus,  who  had  zealously 
persecuted  this  people  in  the  latter  end  of  the  forego- 
ing century,  burned  a  supposed  manichee,  who  was 

*  Waldenses. 


400 

charged  with  maintaining  all  the  absurdities  of  Manes. 
We  have  the  account  from  the  female  historian,  his 
own  daughter  Anna  Comnena,  who  every  where  idol- 
izes the  character  of  her  father.*  The  supposed  here- 
tic, however,  it  ought  to  be  known,  rejected  the  wor- 
ship of  images  as  idolatry;!  a  circumstance,  which,  at 
least  affords  a  strong  presumption  in  favour  of  his 
christian  character.  The  reader  is  hence  lead  to  be- 
lieve it  not  improbable,  that  there  were  even  then 
some  relics  of  a  church  of  God  in  the  east.  If  he  com- 
plain that  the  evidence  is  scanty,  I  can  only  lament, 
that  history  affords  no  more.  And  if  he  recollect  the 
■account  given  of  the  cathari  in  the  memoirs  of  Ber- 
nard, and  consider  them  as  properly  belonging  to  this 
place,  he  will  see,  that  the  prophecy  of  Christ  concern- 
ing his  church,  "  that  the  gates  of  hell  should  never 
prevail  against  it,"  had  its  real  completion  even  in  the 
dark  times  which  we  are  reviewing. 

It  is,  however,  no  small  consolation  to  the  mind  of 
a  true  believer,  that  the  most  disastrous,  as  well  as 
the  most  glorious  scenes  of  the  church,  are  predicted 
in  scripture.  The  evidence  of  prophecy  constantly  ac- 
companies the  light  of  history,  and  "  behold  I  have 
told  you  before,"  is  the  voice  of  our  Saviour,  which 
we  hear  in  every  age.  In  a  council  held  at  London  in 
1108,  in  the  reign  of  our  Henry  I.  a  decree  was  issued 
against  clerks,  who  should  cohabit  with  women.  J  This 
council  did  not  mean  to  give  an  attestation  to  the  truth 
of  the  prophecy  of  St.  Paul,  concerning  the  apostacy 
of  the  latter  days,  one  circumstance  of  which  was  the 
prohibition  of  marriage§,  but  they  fulfilled  the  pro- 
phecy in  the  clearest  manner.  The  voices  of  natural 
conscience  and  of  common  sense  were,  however,  by 
no  means  altogether  silenced  during  this  gloomy  sea- 
son. Fluentius,  bishop  of  Florence||,  taught  publicly, 
that  antichrist  was  born,  and  come  into  the  world;  on 
which  account  pope  Paschal  II.  held  a  council  there 

*  Anna  Comnena,  b.  xv.  +  Baron,  cent,  xit 

J  Baron,  cent  xii.  §  1  Tim.  iv. 

II  See  bp.  Newton  on  the  Prophecies^  vol.  iii.  p.  167". 


401 

in  the  year  1105,  reprimanJed  the  bishop,  and  enjoin- 
ed him  silence  on  that  subject.  Even  Bernard  himself 
inveighed  so  strongly  against  the  popes  and  the  clergy, 
that  nothing  but  the  obstinate  prejudices  of  education 
prevented  him  from  seeing  the  whole  truth  in  this 
matter.  It  was  natural  for  men,  who  reverenced  the 
scriptures,  and  who  compared  what  they  read  of  anti- 
christ, with  what  they  saw  in  the  church  of  Rome,  to 
express  some  suspicions,  that  the  prophecy  was  then 
fulfilling,  though  the  glare  of  fictitious  holiness,  which 
covered  the  popedom,  prevented  them  from  behold- 
ing their  object  with  perspicuity. 

Our  own  island  was  rapidly  advancing  all  this  cen- 
tury into  a  state  of  deplorable  subjection  to  the  Roman 
see.  Men  of  solid  understanding,  like  our  Henry  IT. 
lamented,  struggled,  and  resisted,  but  with  little  effect. 
They  felt  the  temporal  oppression  of  ecclesiastical 
tyranny,  while  they  were  perfectly  regardless  of  their 
own  spiritual  misery,  and  even  aided  the  court  of 
Rome  in  the  persecution  of  real  christians.  That  same 
Henry  II.  who  made  so  firm  a  stand  against  papal  en- 
croachments in  civil  matters,  in  the  twenty-fourth  year 
of  his  reign,  joined  with  the  French  king  in  persecut- 
ing the  cathari  of  Toulouse,  who  were  injuriously  de- 
nominated arians;*  and,  while  he  abused  and  per- 
verted one  of  the  finest  understandings  by  a  life  of 
ambition,  and  lewdness,  and  by  supporting  idolatrous 
religion,  he  himself  was  exposed  to  the  severest  suf- 
ferings from  the  papal  usurpations.  One  instance  of 
his  barbarity  will  deserve  to  be  distinctly  related. 

Thirty  men  and  women,  who  were  Germans,  ap* 
peared  in  England  in  the  year  1159,  and  were  after- 
wards brought  before  a  council  of  the  clergy  at  Ox- 
ford. Gerard  their  teacher,  a  man  of  learning,  said, 
that  they  were  christians,  and  believed  the  doctrine  of 
the  apostles.  They  expressed  an  abhorrence  of  the 
doctrine  of  purgatory,  of  prayers  for  the  dead,  and  of 
the  invocation  of  saints.  Henry,  in  conjunction  with 

*  Hoveden,  p.  ."27. 


402 

the  council,  ordered  them'ko  be  branded  with  a  hot 
iron  on  the  forehead,  to  be  whipped  through  Oxford, 
to  have  their  clothes  cut  short  by  their  girdles,  and 
to  be  turned  into  the  open  fields;  and  he  likewise  for- 
bade any  person,  under  severe  penalties,  to  shelter 
or  relieve  them.  As  it  was  the  depth  of  winter,  they 
all  lost  their  lives  through  cold  and  hunger.*  They 
had  made  one  female  convert  in  England,  who, 
through  fear  of  similar  punishment,  recanted.  The 
whole  number  of  the  Germans  remained,  however, 
patient,  serene,  and  composed,  repeating  "  Blessed 
are  those,  who  are  persecuted  for  righteousness'  sake; 
for  theirs  is  the  kingdom  of  heaven."  Their  teacher 
Gerard,  that  he  might  be  distinguished  from  the  rest, 
had  an  additional  stigma  on  his  chin. 

What  a  darkness  must  at  that  time  have  filled  this 
island!  A  wise  and  sagacious  king,  a  renowned  uni- 
versity, the  whole  body  of  the  clergy  and  laity,  all  - 
united  in  expelling  Christ  from  their  coasts!  Brief  as 
is  the  account  of  the  martyrs,  it  is  sufficiently  evident 
that  they  were  the  martyrs  of  Christ.  Driven  most 
probably  from  home  by  the  rage  of  persecution,  they 
had  brought  the  light  and  power  of  the  gospel  with 
them  into  England;  aad  so  totally  senseless  and  corrupt 
was  our  nation,  that  none  received  it.  It  deserves  to 
be  noticed,  that  England  was  afterwards  for  a  long 
time  exposed  to  suifer  more  severely,  than  most  other 
nations,  from  the  exactions  of  the  popedom. 

Mr.  Berington  observes,  on  occasion  of  this  story, 
that  none  but  a  hero  or  a  madman  was  at  that  time 
qualified  to  be  a  reformer.  But  a  true  reformer  need 
not  to  be  either  the  one  or  the  other.  A  man  of  under- 
standing, who  fears  God,  and  speaks  the  words  of  so- 
berness, if  influenced  by  the  spirit  of  God,  is  fitted  to 
reform  mankind. 

The  contention  between  king  Henry  and  Becket  is 
well  known.  I  have  nothing  to  say  of  it,  except  that 
the  whole  affair  is  foreign  to  my  purpose.  There  is  no 

*  Neubrig.  Brompt.  Collect.  See  Henry's  Hist,  of  Eng.  vol.  iil.  p.  240. 


403 

evidence  that  a  spirit  of  true  religion  influenced  either 
the  king  or  the  archbishop. 

Antichrist,  indeed,   reigned   calm   and   victorious 
throughout  Europe.  Nevertheless,  even  in  Italy  itself, 
some  suspicions  of  his  existence  appeared.  Joachim, 
abbot  of  Calabria,  was  a  man  renowned  for  learning 
and  piety,  and  perhaps  very  deservedly.  This  man 
asserted  that  antichrist  was  born  in  the  Roman  state, 
and  would  be  exalted  to  the  apostolic  see.*  Our  king 
Richard  I.  being  at  Messina  in  Sicily,  going  upon  his 
expedition  to  the  holy  land,  sent  for  this  Joachim,  and 
with  much  satisfaction  heard  him  explain  the  book  of 
the  Revelation,  and  discourse  of  antichrist.  Mr.  Ber- 
ington  gives  a  ludicrous  account  of  this  interview  be- 
tween the  king  and  the  abbot;  and  observes,  that  the 
"  bishops  who  were  present,  and  Richard,  and  Joa- 
chim, were  equally  intelligent  in  the  mysteries  of  the 
evangelist  with  any  other  interpreters  from  that  day.  "f 
This  gentleman  is  a  lively,  agreeable  writer,  and  has 
exerted  a  capacity,  learning,  and  industry,  to  which  I 
have  been  obliged  on  several  occasions.  But  the  rude 
treatment  of  any  part  of  the  word  of  God  deserves  to 
be  rebuked,  whether  he,  who  is  guilty  of  it,  be  a  ro- 
man  catholic  or  a  protestant,  or  a  sceptic  in  religion. , 
I  doubt  not  but  some  of  his  readers,  who  never  ex- 
amined the  subject  with  the  least  attention,  will  be 
gratified  with  the  pleasantry  of  his  remark.  But  let 
them  be  told,  that  part  of  the  apocalypse  is  very  in- 
telligible, even  at  present;  and  that  all  of  it  will  pro- 
bably be  so  before  the  end  of  time.  And  is  not  all 
scripture  said  to  be  profitable?  J  It  behooved  not  a  man 
professing  Christianity,  to  throw  out  innuendos,  which 
might  have  been  expected  only  from  an  avowed  in- 
fidel. Has  the  author  ever  examined  with  care,  the 
writings  of  expositors  on  the  apocalypse?  Did  he  ever 
attend  to  Mr.  Mede's  elaborate  and  learned  works  on 
the  subject?  Did  Sir  Isaac  Newton's  observations  on 
the  apocalypse  ever  fall  into  his  hands?  or,  to  come  to 

*  Hoveden,  p.  681.  Collier's  Ecc.  Hist.  b.  vi.  p.  401. 
t  Hist,  of  Henry  TI.  &c.  p.  S75.  ]  1  Tim.  iii.  16. 


404 

latter  times,  has  he  ever  studied  the  works  of  bishop 
Newton,  bishop  Hiird,  or  the  late  bishop  Halifax? 
Let  him  attend  to  any  one  of  these,  and  having  di- 
gested his  scheme,  let  him  then  say,  with  a  sneer  if  he 
can,  that  our  ignorant  king  Richard  I.  was  as  intelli- 
gent an  expositor  as  he. 

If  this  same  Richard  had  been  as  earnest  in  study- 
ing the  scriptures,  as  he  was  in  conducting  his  roman- 
tic expedition  into  the  holy  land,  by  comparing  the 
apocalyptic  prophecies  with  the  treatment  which  he 
himself  received  from  the  pope,  he  might  have  under- 
stood that  the  bishop  of  Rome  was  antichrist.  For,  in 
a  bull  dated  1197,  Innocent  III.  declared,  that  it  was 
not  fit,  that  any  man  should  be  invested  with  authority, 
who  did  not  revere  and  obey  the  holy  see.  In  another 
bull,  addressed  to  Richard,  he  told  him,  that  if  he  op- 
posed the  execution  of  the  decrees  of  the  apostolic 
see,  he  would  soon  convince  him,  how  hard  it  was  to 
kick  against  the  pricks.  In  another  bull,  he  declared, 
that  he  would  not  endure  the  least  contempt  of  him- 
self, or  of  God,  whose  place  he  held  on  earth,  but 
would  punish  every  disobedience  without  delay,  and 
^.vithout  respect  of  persons;  and  would  convince  the 
whole  world,  that  he  was  determined  to  act  like  a 
sovereign.*  The  "  lionhearted"  Richard  obeyed  his 
decrees,  and  gave  up  his  opposition,  in  the  cause 
which  he  had  contested.  Innocent,  indeed,  reigned  in 
England  with  a  power  little  less  than  despotic.  This 
was  the  pope,  who  confirmed  the  doctrine  of  transub- 
stantiation  in  the  grossest  sense,  who  reduced  the  two 
succeeding  princes  John  and  Henry  III.  into  a  state 
of  the  lowest  vassalage  to  himself,  and  who  enriched 
his  creatures  with  the  treasures  of  England,  almost 
entirely  at  pleasure. 

*  Gervas  Chronicle.  See  Henn's  3d.  vol.  of  Hist,  of  Euff. 


405 

CHAP.  VII. 

The  Propagation  of  the  Gospel. 

1  HE  pale  of  the  visible  church  was  still  farther  ex- 
tended in  this  century  among  the  idolatrous  nations; 
and,  though  the  methods  of  propagating  divine  truth 
were  too  often  unchristian,  some  missionaries  seem  to 
have  been  actuated  by  an  apostolical  spirit.  The  arti- 
cles under  this  head  are  only  few,  but  will  deserve  the 
reader's  attention. 

Boleslaus,  duke  of  Poland,  having  taken  Stetin  the 
capital  of  Pomcrania,  by  storm,  and  laid  waste  the 
country  with  fire  and  sword,  compelled  the  remaining 
inhabitants  to  submit  at  discretion.  What  right  he  had 
to  make  war  on  the  Pomeranians  at  all,  and  if  he  had  a 
right,  how  far  he  confined  himself  within  the  bounds 
of  justice  and  humanit}^,  are  inquiries  not  easy  to  be 
answered,  on  account  of  the  scantiness  of  our  infor^ 
mation.  From  such  inauspicious  beginnings,  however, 
Pomerania  was  introdu.ced  to  an  acquaintance  with 
Christianity.  The  conqueror  endeavoured,  for  three 
years,  to  procure  pastors  and  teachers  from  his  own 
dominions,  to  instruct  his  new  subjects;  but  could 
find  none.  He  then  eng-ae-ed  Otho,  bishop  of  Bambersr, 
m  the  v/ork.  The  duke  of  Pomerania  met  the  bishop  on 
his  approach,  and  received  him  vj'iih  much  respect. 
The  savage  inhabitants,  however,  were  with  difficulty 
prevented  from  murdering  him.  Otho  was  firm,  and 
by  christian  zeal,  patience,  and  meekness,  laboured  to 
efface  the  disadvantageous  impressions,  which  the  mili- 
tary executions  of  Boleslaus  could  not  fail  to  make  on 
their  minds.  The  dutchess  of  Pomerania,  with  her 
female  attendants,  received  the  gospel.  So  did  the 
duke  with  his  companions,  and  he  gave  this  evidence 
of  sincerity,  that  he  was  prevailed  on  by  the  instruc- 
tions of  Otho  to  dismiss  his  concubines,  who  were 
twenty-four  in  number.  This  missionary  was  after- 
VoL.  III.  52 


406 

wards  fiercely  assaulted  by  some  of  the  inhabitants, 
and  escaped  with  great  difficulty.  But  he  bore  the  in- 
jury so  meekly,  and  still  persevered  in  his  labours  with 
such  evident  marks  of  probity  and  charity,  that  he  at 
length  established  the  form  of  Christianity  among  them. 
He*  had  entered  on  his  mission  in  the  year  1124,  and 
from  his  success  was  styled  the  apostle  of  the  Pome- 
ranians, f  After  he  had  carried  the  gospel  into  Noim 
and  other  remote  districts,  he  returned  to  the  care  of 
his  own  fiock  at  Bamberg,  where  he  died  in  11394 
That  the  work,  however,  was  very  slight  among  this 
people,  appeared  too  plainly  by  the  event.  The  Pome- 
ranians soon  after  ejected  the  christian  pastors,  and 
reestablished  the  idolatry  of  their  ancestors. 

The  inhabitants  of  Rugen,  an  island  which  lies  in 
the  neighbourhood  of  Pomerania,  were  remarkable  for 
their  obstinate  opposition  to  Christianity.  Eric,  king 
of  Denmark,  subdued  them,  and,  among  other  condi- 
tions of  peace,  imposed  on  them  the  necessity  of  re- 
ceiving his  religion.  But  they  soon  relapsed  into  the 
idolatry  of  their  ancestors.  At  length  Waldemar,  king 
of  Denmark,  having  subjected  them  again  by  his  arms 
to  the  Danish  crown,  obliged  them  to  deliver  up  to 
him  their  idol,  called  Swanterwith,  an  account  of  which 
we  have  seen  in  the  history  of  the  tenth  century. 
Waldemar  ordered  it  to  be  hewn  in  pieces,  and 
burned.  He  compelled  the  vanquished  also  to  deliver 
to  him  all  their  sacred  money:  he  released  the  chris- 
tian captives  whom  they  held  in  slavery,  and  converted 
the  lands,  which  had  been  assigned  to  the  pagan 
priests,  to  the  support  of  a  christian  ministry.  He  did 
also  something,  which  was  of  a  more  salutary  nature 
and  tendency,  whatever  were  his  own  motives  of  con- 
duct. He  furnished  the  ignorant  savages  with  pastors 
and  teachers.  Among  these  shone  Absalom,  archbi- 
shop of  Lunden,  by  whose  pious  labours,  at  length, 
the  gospel  received  an  establishment  in  this  island, 


*  Cent.  Map^d.  cent.  xil.  p.  16.       f  Baronins,  cent.  xii.  See  Magd.  cent. 
:j  Butler,  vol.  vii. 


407 

which  had  so  long  baffled  every  attempt  to  evangelize 
it.  Absalom*  ought  to  be  classed  among  those  genu- 
ine benefactors  of  mankind,  who  were  willing  to  spend 
and  be  spent  for  the  good  of  souls.  Even  Jaremar,  the 
prince  of  Rugen,  received  the  gospel  with  great  alacri- 
ty, and  not  only  taught  his  wayward  subjects  by  his 
life  and  example,  but  also  by  his  useful  instructions 
and  admonitions.  Sometimes  he  employed  menaces, 
but  to  what  degree,  and  with  what  circumstances,  I 
know  not.  Certain  it  is,  that  the  people  of  Rugen  from 
that  time  were  in  some  sense,  at  least,  evangelized. 
No  people  had  ever  shown  a  more  obstinate  aversion 
to  the  doctrines  of  Christianity.  Nor  were  the  military 
proceedings  of  Eric  and  Waldemar  calculated  to  soften 
their  animosity.  In  this  article,  however,  as  in  the  last, 
the  characters  of  the  missionaries  ought  to  be  distin- 
guished from  those  of  the  princes;  for,  in  the  accounts 
of  both  the  missionaries  there  appears  very  good 
evidence  of  a  genuine  propagation  of  godliness.  These 
events  in  Rugen  took  place  about  the  year  llGB.f 
When  I  distinguish  the  character  of  the  princes,  from 
that  of  the  missionaries,  I  am  by  no  means  certain, 
that  the  conduct  of  the  former  was  unjustifiable.  The 
people  of  Rugen  were  a  band  of  pirates  and  robbers; 
and  it  is  not  improbable,  but  that  the  right  of  selfpre- 
servation  might  authorize  the  Danish  expeditions. 

The  Finlanders  were  of  the  same  character  with  the 
people  of  Rugen,  and  infested  Sweden  with  their  in- 
cursions. Eric,  king  of  the  last  mentioned  country, 
vanquished  them  in  war,  and  is  said  to  have  wept,  be- 
cause his  enemies  died  unbaptized.  As  soon  as  he 
was  master  of  Finland,  he  sent  Henry,  bishop  of  Up- 
sal,  to  evangelize  the  barbarians.  The  success  of  the 
missionary  was  great,  and  he  is  called  the  apostle  of 
the  Finlanders,  though  he  was  murdered  at  length  by 
some  of  the  refractory  people.  How  far  the  censure 
of  Mosheim,  on  his  severity  to  them,  may  be  well 
founded,  I  cannot  decide.  The  man  seems,  however, 

*  Mosheim,  xii.  cent.  351.  Cent.  Magd.  xii.  cent.  13.      j  Butler,  vol.  x. 


408 

to  have  been  T^ious  and  to  have  liad  t^ood  intentions. 
The  laudable  conduct  of  his  sovereign  also  deserves 
to  be  celebrated.  Eric  was  excellent  both  as  a  chris- 
tian and  a  king.  His  piety  provoked  the  derision  of 
soHie  impious  malcontents,  b}  whom  he  was  attacked, 
while  employed  in  public  worship.  The  remainder  of 
the  festival,  said  he,  I  shall  observe  elsewhere.  It  was 
the  feast  of  the  ascension,  which  he  was  celebrating. 
He  went  out  alone  to  meet  the  murderers,  that  he 
might  prevent  the  effusion  of  blood,  and  he  died  re- 
commending his  soul  to  God.  He  was  slain  in  1311; 
and  his  tomb  still  remains,  at  Upsal,  undefaced.*  It 
may  be  proper  to  add,  that  Henry  was  an  Englishman, 
who  had  taken  considerable  pains  among  the  barba- 
rous nations,  before  the  period  of  his  labours  in  Fin- 
land, and  that  he  was  stoned  to  death  at  the  instigation 
of  a  murderer  whom  he  had  endeavoured  to  reclaim 
by  his  censures.  His  death  happened  in  the  same 
year  as  that  of  his  royal  master,  f  This  person  is  high- 
ly extolled  by  John  Olaus,  in  his  work,  De  rebus  Go- 
thicis.J 

The  Sclavonians  were  remarkably  averse  to  the 
gospel  of  Christ,  and  much  exercised  the  patience  and 
charity  of  Vicelinus,  who  preached  thirty  years  in 
Holsatia  and  the  neighbouring  parts.  He  was  at  length 
appointed  bishop  of  Oldenburg,  which  see  was  after- 
wards transferred  to  Lubec:  and  the  fruits  of  his  mi- 
nistry were  solid  and  giorious.§  He  died  in  1J54.  All 
the  accounts  of  antiquity  are  full  of  the  praises  of 
Vicelinus;  and  his  character  is  briefly,  but  very  strong- 
ly celebrated  by  Mosheim,  with  such  unqualified  com- 
mendations, that  I  cannot  but  wish  that  very  learned 
historian  had  favoured  us  with  an  abridgment  of  his 
life  and  actions,  taken  from  the  sources  of  information, 
which  he  quotes,  but  which  seem  to  us  inaccessible. 
I  have  consulted  the  centuriators,  and  find  matter 
there  sufficient  to  excite,  but  not  to  satisfy  our  curio- 

*  Mosheim,  cent.  xii.  552,  Bntler,  vol.  v. 

4  His  iife  was  written  by  Benzelius  Monum.  Suec.  p.  33.  Butler,  vol.  ii. 
\  B.  19.  c.  3.  See  Baron,  cent.  xii.  §  Baron,  cent.  xii'. 


409 

sity.  The  little  to  be  collected  from  them  shall  be  men- 
tioned in  the  next  chapter.  And  here  is  an  instance  of 
that,  which  I  have  had  but  too  frequent  occasion  to 
remark,  namely,  an  extreme  scantiness  of  information 
on  subjects  most  worthy  of  our  researches.  How  wil- 
lingly would  the  evangelical  reader  have  excused  the 
omission  of  many  pages  in  Mosheim,  if  he  had  grati- 
fied us  with  an  orderly  account  of  one  of  the  best  and 
wisest  christian  missionaries  of  the  age.* 

The  propagation  of  religion  in  Livonia  will  not  de- 
serve any  detail.  It  took  place  in  the  latter  part  of  this 
century:  violent  and  secular  methods  were  principally 
used,  and  the  wretched  inhabitants  were  compelled  to 
receive  baptism;  but  I  know  no  fruits  that  appeared 
in  this  century  worthy  of  the  christian  name. 


CHAP.  VHI. 

Writers  and  Enmient  Persons  hi  this  Century, 

xSERNARD  far  outshines  all  the  other  christian 
characters  of  the  age.  A  very  brief  survey,  however, 
of  some  who  had  the  greatest  reputation  for  piety, 
may  not  be  improper. 

Meginher,  archbishop  of  Treves,  is  a  character,  of 
whom  it  were  to  be  wished,  we  had  a  more  distinct 
account.  He  inveighed  against  the  luxury  and  sensual- 
ity of  his  clergy,  and  so  provoked  their  resentment, 
that  he  was  obliged  to  undertake  a  journey  to  Rome 
in  his  own  defence.  By  the  treachery  of  his  own  cler- 
gy, he  was  intercepted  on  the  road,  and  died  in  prison 
at  Parma  in  the  year  1130.t  If  we  had  the  particulars 
of  these  transactions,  it  is  probable,  that  he  would 
appear  to  have  resembled  Chrysostom  in  his  integrity, 

*  See  cent.  Magd.  16.  Mosheim,  cent.  xii.  554.  The  authors  quoted 
by  Mosheim  are  Cimbria  literata  of  Mollerus,  and  the  Res  Hamburg,  of 
Lambecius.  f  Cent.  Magd.  cent.  xti.  23. 


410 

as  well  as  in  his  sufferings.  Meginher  deserves,  how- 
ever, to  be  mentioned,  because  his  case  evinces  how 
unsafe  it  was  in  those  days  to  defend  christian  piety, 
even  in  the  midst  of  the  visible  church  of  Christ. 

About  the  same  time  a  presbyter  named  Arnulph, 
came  to  Rome,  and  faithfully  preached  against  the 
vices  of  the  clergy.  He  was  himself  a  man  of  unbla- 
mable life  and  conversation,  and  zealously  laboured 
to  induce  Jie  pastors  of  the  church  to  imitate  the  sim- 
plicity,  and  disinterestedness  of  the  primitive  chris- 
tians. He  seems  to  have  foreseen  that  he  should  suf- 
fer for  righteousness  sake.  "  I  know,"  said  he  pub- 
licly, "  that  ye  seek  m)"  life.  Ye  despise  me  and  your 
Creator,  who  redeemed  you  by  his  only  begotten  son. 
Nor  is  it  to  be  wondered  at,  that  ye  should  kill  me 
a  sinful  man,  who  speaks  to  you  the  truth,  since,  if 
St.  Peter  himself  were  to  rise  from  the  dead,  and  re- 
buke your  multiplied  enormities,  ye  would  not  spare 
him."  Arnulph  was  secretly  murdered,  and  appears 
to  have  been  a  faithful  martyr.* 

The  orthodox  sentiments  of  the  godhead  and  man- 
hood of  Jesus  Christ,  and  the  influence  of  both  natures 
in  the  redemption,  were  clearly  and  soundly  vindica- 
ted by  Ricardus  in  a  treatise  concerning  the  incarna- 
tion, t 

Rupert,  in  this  century,  writing  on  the  gospel  of 
St.  John,  observes,  on  occasion  of  our  Lord's  decla- 
ring in  the  14th  chapter  of  St.  John,  that  the  world 
neither  see  nor  know  the  holy  Spirit;  "  that  they  see 
him  not,  arises  from  their  unbelief;  that  they  know 
him  not,  proceeds  from  their  pride.  Infidelity  regards 
nothing  but  what  is  present;  and  pride  approves  not 
of  such  a  comforter,  nay,  reckons  the  life  of  those  who 
seek  his  consolations  to  be  madness,  and  their  end  to 
be  without  honour." 

Peter  Alphonsus,  a  Jew,  was  converted  in  the  year 
1106,  in  the  forty-fourth  year  of  his  age.  Being  se- 
verely censured  by  his  countrymen,  he  published  a 

*  Cent.  Majvd.  Q".  f  Id.  98. 


411 

dialogue  against  the  Jews,  which  seems  to  have  been 
no  contemptible  defence  of  Christianity  against  his 
countrymen.*  This  man  was  eminent  for  sacred  and 
profane  literature,  and  it  is  hoped,  became  a  real  or- 
nament to  Christianity. t 

Whoever  in  this  degenerate  age  acted  faithfully  in 
the  ministry,  exposed  himself  to  imminent  danger. 
This  was  the  case  of  Heinricus,  bishop  of  Mentz.  He 
was  a  rare  pattern  of  meekness,  integrity,  and  charity. 
But,  through  the  unjust  accusation  of  his  clergy,  he 
was  deprived  of  his  bishopric  by  the  authority  of  two 
cardinals  at  Worms.  "  I  know,"  said  he,  "  if  I  were 
to  appeal  to  the  pope,  it  would  be  in  vain.  I  appeal, 
therefore,  to  Jesus  Christ,  the  just  judge  of  quick  and 
dead,  who  neither  accepts  persons,  nor  receives  bribes 
as  you  do."  After  his  expulsion  from  his  see,  which 
he  had  held  near  nine  years,  he  retired  to  a  monas- 
tery in  Saxony,  and  lived  in  privacy  and  retirement, 
but  without  taking  upon  him  the  monastic  habit,  and 
died  in  1153.| 

Vicelinus,  before  mentioned,  was  born  at  an  ob- 
scure town  on  the  banks  of  the  Weser,  in  the  diocese 
of  Minden.  Having  met  with  a  sarcastic  reproof  from 
a  priest,  in  his  youth,  on  account  of  his  indolence  and 
ignorance,  he  was  roused  to  pay  the  greatest  attention 
to  the  cultivation  of  his  understanding.  Many  in  that 
age  were  equally  studious;  but  Vicelinus  was  singu- 
larly eminent  in  directing  his  studies  to  practical  pur- 
poses, and  to  the  cultivation  of  genuine  piety,  and  in 
avoiding  the  miserable  strife  of  metaphysical  subtiii- 
ties,  to  which  men  of  learning  were  then  generally 
addicted.  The  scene  of  his  evangelical  labours  was 
Holstein,  in  the  kingdom  of  Denmark:  there  he  taught 
men  to  turn  from  idols  to  the  living  God;  for  the 
Holsatians  had  known  nothing  of  Christianity,  but  the 
name:  they  worshipped  groves,  fountains,  and  various 
vanities.  The  success  of  Vicelinus  seems  to  have 
been  solid  and  lasting:  many  pagans  all  around,  and 

'  Du  Pin.  170.  t  Cent.  Ma.^d.  701.  |  Id.  710. 


4L'2 

particularly  the  Vandals,  were  induced  to  receive 
Christianity.  After  he  had  laboured  thirty  years  in 
Holstein  and  the  neighbouring*  parts,  he  was  appointed 
bishop  of  Oldenburgh,  in  the  year  1128.  He  still  con- 
tinued near  six  years  in  the  same  course  of  evangeli- 
cal labour,  in  which  he  had  persevered  so  long  before, 
but  was  at  length  confined  to  his  bed  by  a  palsy  for 
upwards  of  two  years,  and  died  in  the  year  1154.* 

Anselm  of  Havelburg  was  a  bishop  of  some  literary 
reputation,  and  flourished  in  the  middle  of  this  cen- 
tury. The  only  thing,  which  I  find  remarkable  con- 
cerning him,  and  it  gives  a  strong  presumption  in  fa- 
vour of  his  piety  or  understanding,  or  both,  is  this, 
that  he  saw  and  censured  the  pharisaism  of  the  inon- 
kish  institutions.  He  declared,  that  there  were  many 
in  his  time,  successively  rising  up,  who  disapproved 
of  the  vanity  and  novelty  f  of  monastic  orders. 

It  may  be  proper  just  to  mention  Peter,  abbot  of 
Cluny,  sirnamed  the  venerable,  l^hat  so  ignorant  and 
so  trifling  a  writer  should  have  been  honoured  with  a 
title  so  magnificent,  is  one  of  the  strongest  marks  of 
the  low  state  of  religious  knowledge  in  general  at 
that  time.  He  takes  large  pains  to  vindicate  the  man- 
ners and  customs  of  his  monastery  against  objections; 
and  in  doing  this,  he  is  so  verbose  and  circumstan- 
tial,! that  he  may  seem  to  have  placed  the  essence  of 
Christianity  in  frivolous  punctilios  and  insignificant 
ceremonies.  This  is  he,  who  received  Peter  Abelard 
in  his  afflictions  with  great  humanity,  and  who  con- 
soled Eloisa  after  the  death  of  that  ingenious  heretic, 
by  sending  to  her,  at  her  request,  the  form  of  Abe- 
lard's  absolution, §  which  that  unhappy  woman  in- 
scribed on  his  sepulchre.  I  can  only  say,  in  the  praise 
of  Peter,  that  his  manners  were  gentle,  his  temper 
very  mild  and  humane,  and  that  he  had  what  in  com- 
mon life  is  concisely  called  a  good  heart. 

I  add  Peter  Lombard  to  the  list  of  eminent  persons 
of  this  century,  though  I  know  nothing  interesting  to 

*  Cent.  Magd.  cent.  xii.  74S.  f  W.  761. 

i  Bu  Pin,  cent  xii.  p.  79  ■§  Baron,  cent.  xii. 


413 

relate  of  him,  further  than  what  has  already  been  men- 
tioned. Subtilty  of  argumentation  was  his  fort:  I  find 
no  evidence  of  his  genuine  humility  and  piety. 

Isidore  of  Madrid,  a  poor  labourer  of  this  century, 
was  canonized  by  papal  authority.  The  account  of  him 
is  too  scanty,  to  enable  us  to  form  a  proper  estimate  of 
his  real  worth  and  qualifications.  There  must,  how- 
ever, have  been  something  singularly  striking  in  his 
character;  as  here  we  have  one  canonization  at  least, 
which  could  not  be  the  result  of  interested  adulation. 
His  master,  John  de  Vargas,  allowed  him  daily  to  at- 
tend the  public  offices  of  the  church;  and  he,  by  early 
rising,  took  care  that  the  master  lost  nothing  of  his  due 
services:  he  relieved  the  poor  by  the  produce  of  his  la- 
bours: he  was  humble,  laborious  and  just;  and  died 
near  sixty  years  old,  in  the  exercises  of  benevolence. 
What  a  saint!  if,  as  may  be  hoped,  he  was  principled 
by  the  faith  of  Jesus,  and  renounced,  from  the  heart, 
his  own  righteousness  as  filthy  rags! 


Vol.  III.  53 


CENTURY  XIIL 

CHAP.  I. 

Peter  Waldo. 

1  HE  reader  will  recollect  the  account,  which  has 
been  given  of  the  cathari,*  who  were  evidently  a  peo- 
ple of  God  in  the  former  part  of  the  last  century.  In 
the  latter  part  of  the  same  century,  they  received  a 
great  accession  of  members  from  the  learned  labours 
and  godly  zeal  of  Peter  Waldo.  In  the  century  before 
us,  they  were  gloriously  distinguished  by  a  dreadful 
series  of  persecution,  and  exhibited  a  spectacle  to  the 
world,  both  of  the  power  of  divine  grace,  and  of  the 
malice  and  enmity  of  the  world  against  the  real  gospel 
of  Jesus  Christ.  I  purpose  to  represent  in  one  connec- 
ted view,  the  history  of  this  people  to  the  time  of  the 
reformation,  and  a  little  after.  The  spirit,  doctrine, 
and  progress  of  the  waldenses,  will  be  more  clearly  un- 
derstood by  this  method,  than  by  broken  and  inter- 
rupted details;  and  the  thirteenth  century  seems  the 
most  proper  place  in  which  their  story  should  be 
introduced. 

The  cathari,  whom  Bernard  so  unhappily  misrepre- 
sented, were  peculiarly  numerous  in  the  valleys  of 
Piedmont.  Hence  the  name  Vaudois,  or  Vallenses 
was  given  to  them,  particularly  to  those  who  inhabited 
the  valleys  of  Lucerne  and  Angrogne.  A  mistake  arose 
from  similarity  of  names,  that  Peter  Valdo  or  Waldo, 
was  the  first  founder  of  these  churches.  For  the  name 
Vallenses  being  easily  changed  into  Waldenses,  the 
romanists  improved  this  very  easy  and  natural  mis- 
take into  an  argument  against  the  antiquity  of  these 

*  See  page  360. 


415 

churches,  and  denied  that  they  had  any  existence  till 
the  appearance  of  Waldo.  During  the  altercations  of 
the  papists  and  protestants,  it  was  of  some  consequence 
that  this  matter  should  be  rightly  stated;  because  the 
former  denied,  that  the  doctrines  of  the  latter  had  any 
existence  till  the  days  of  Luther.  But  from  a  just  ac- 
count of  the  subject  it  appeared,  that  the  real  protes- 
tant  doctrines  existed  during  the  dark  ages  of  the 
church,  even  long  before  Waldo's  time;  the  proper 
founder  of  them  being  Claudius  of  Turin,  the  chris- 
tian hero  of  the  ninth  century.  * 

About  the  year  1160,  the  doctrine  of  transubstantia- 
tion,  which,  some  time  afterwards,  Innocent  III.  con- 
firmed in  a  very  solemn  manner,  was  required  by  the 
court  of  Rome  to  be  acknowledged  by  all  men.  A  very 
pernicious  practice  of  idolatry  was  connected  with  the 
reception  of  this  doctrine.  Men  fell  down  before  the 
consecrated  host  and  worshipped  it  as  God:  and  the 
novelty,  absurdity,  and  impiety  of  this  abomination 
very  much  struck  the  minds  of  all  men,  who  were  not 
dead  to  a  sense  of  true  religion.  At  this  time  Peter 
Waldo,  a  citizen  of  Lyons,  appeared  very  courageous 
in  opposing  the  invention;  though  it  is  evident  from  the 
very  imperfect  account,  which  we  have  of  the  man, 
that  it  was  not  one  single  circumstance  alone  which 
influenced  him  in  his  views  of  reformation.  It  was  the 
fear  of  God,  in  general,  as  a  ruling  principle  in  his 
own  soul,  and  an  alarming  sense  of  the  wickedness  of 
the  times,  which,  under  the  divine  influence,  moved 

*  Dr.  Allix,  in  his  history  of  the  ancient  church  of  Piedmont,  has  done 
justice  to  this  subject.  I  have  already  made  use  of  his  learned  labours, 
and  shall  again  avail  myself  of  them;  though  my  chief  source  of  informa- 
tion concerning  this  people  will  be  their  history,  written  by  John  Paul 
Perrin  of  Lyons,  who  wx'ote  in  1618.  I  could  have  wished,  that  his  ac- 
counts of  internal  religion  had  been  more  full,  even  though  those  of  the 
persecutions  had  been  more  scanty.  But  there  arose  no  writers  of  emi- 
nence among  the  Waldenses;  and  Perrin's  history  is  in  a  great  measure 
collected  from  the  records  of  the  process  and  proceedings  against  the 
Waldensian  churches,  which  were  in  the  offices  of  the  archbishops  of 
Ambrun,  and  which  were  very  providentially  preserved.  I  shall  not  quote 
him  in  any  particular  passage,  because  I  make  such  large  use  of  his  his- 
tory in  general. 


416 

him  to  oppose  with  courage  the  dangerous  corruptions 
of  the  hierarchy. 

A  providential  event  had  given  the  first  occasion  to 
this  reformer's  concern  for  religion.  Being  assembled 
with  some  of  his  friends,  and  after  supper  conversing 
and  refreshing  himself  among  them,  one  of  the  com- 
pany fell  down  dead  on  the  ground,  to  the  amazement 
of  all  that  were  present.  From  that  moment,  it  pleased 
God,  that  Waldo  should  commence  a  serious  inquirer 
after  divine  truth.  This  person  was  an  opulent  mer- 
chant of  Lyons,  and  as  his  concern  of  mind  increased, 
and  a  door  of  usefulness  to  the  souls  of  men  was  more 
and  more  set  open  before  him,  he  abandoned  his  mer- 
cantile occupation,  distributed  his  wealth  to  the  poor, 
and  exhorted  his  neighbours  to  seek  the  bread  of  life. 
The  poor,  who  flocked  to  him,  that  they  might  par- 
take of  his  alms,  received  from  him  the  best  instruc- 
tions, which  he  was  capable  of  communicating;  and 
they  reverenced  the  man,  to  whose  liberality  they  were 
so  much  obliged,  while  the  great  and  the  rich  both 
hated  and  despised  him. 

Waldo  himself,  however,  that  he  might  teach  others 
effectually,  needed  himself  to  be  taught;  and  where 
was  instruction  to  be  found?  Men  at  that  day  might 
run  here  and  there  for  meat,  and  not  be  satisfied.  In 
some  convents,  among  the  many  who  substituted  for- 
mality for  power,  there  were  particular  persons,  who 
"  held  the  head,"  and  drew  holy  nourishment  from 
him.  But  a  secular  man,  like  Waldo,  would  not  easily 
find  them  out,  and  were  he  to  have  met  with  some  of 
them,  their  prejudiced  attachments  to  the  see  of  Rome 
would  either  have  prevented  them  from  imparting  to 
the  merchant  of  Lyons  the  food  which  was  necessary 
for  his  soul,  or  have  led  him  into  a  course  of  life,  by 
which  he  would,  after  their  example,  have  buried  his 
talent  in  a  napkin.  The  conduct  of  Bernard,  one  of 
the  most  eminent  and  best  of  them,  too  plainly  shows, 
that  one  of  these  two  things  .would  have  been  the  case. 
But  Bernard  was  gone  to  his  rest  not  long  before  this 
time,  and  seems  not  to  have  left  anv  monastic  brother 


417 

behind  him  at  all  to'  be  compared  with  himself.  Di- 
vine providence  reserved  better  things  for  Waldo: 
darkened  and  distressed  in  mind  and  conscience,  he 
knew  that  the  scriptures  were  given  as  infallible 
guides,  and  he  thirsted  for  those  sources  of  instruc- 
tion which  at  that  time  were  in  a  great  measure  a 
sealed  book  in  the  christian  world.  To  men  who  un- 
derstood the  Latin  tongue,  they  were  accessible.  But 
how  few  were  these  compared  with  the  bulk  of  man- 
kind! The  Latin  vulgate  bible  was  the  only  edition  of 
the  sacred  book  at  that  time  in  Europe;  and  the  lan- 
guages then  in  common  use,  the  French  and  others, 
however  mixed  with  the  Latin,  were,  properly  speak- 
ing, by  this  time  separate  and  distinct  from  it.  It  is  a 
certain  mark  of  the  general  negligence  of  the  clergy  in 
those  ages,  that  no  provision  was  made  for  the  igno- 
rant in  this  respect,  though  I  do  not  find  that  there 
existed  any  penal  law  to  forbid  the  reading  of  the 
scriptures  in  the  vulgar  tongue.  It  is  certain  that 
Waldo  found  means  to  diffuse  the  precious  gift  of 
the  scriptures  among  the  people.  But  different  ac- 
counts are  given  us  of  his  manner  of  doing  it.*  His 
enemies  assert,  that  some  books  of  scripture,  having 
been  translated  from  Latin  into  French,  he  assumed 
the  office  of  an  apostle  to  himself.  In  particular,  Rei- 
nerius  says,  "  Being  somewhat  learned,  he  taught  the 
people  the  text  of  the  new  testament."  This  looks  so 
like  a  reluctant  confession  of  his  learning  and  know- 
ledge, that  I  am  tempted  to  believe  the  words  of 
Matthias  Illyricus,  who  observes:  "  His  kindness  to 
the  poor  being  diffused,  his  love  of  teaching  and  their 
love  of  learning  growing  stronger  and  stronger,  greater 
crowds  came  to  him,  and  he  explained  the  scriptures. 
He  was  himself  a  man  of  learning,  so  I  understand 
from  some  old  parchments,  nor  was  he  obliged  to  em- 
ploy others  to  translate  for  him,  as  his  enemies  affirm." 
Another  anonymous  author  tells  us,  likewise,  that 
Waldo  made  a  collection  in  the  vulgar  tongue  of  the 

*  Usher  de  Christ.  Eccl.  success.  &  statu 


418 

passages  of  the  ancient  fathers,  that  he  might  satisfy 
his  disciples  by  the  testimony  of  the  doctors  against 
their  adversaries. 

But  whether  Waldo  himself  entirely  performed  the 
work,  or  encouraged  others  to  do  it,  or  what  is  most 
probable,  executed  it  himself  with  the  assistance  of 
others,  it  is  certain,  that  the  christian  world  in  the  west 
Avas  indebted,  under  providence,  to  him  for  the  first 
translation  of  the  bible  into  a  modern  tongue,  since 
the  time  that  the  Latin  had  ceased  to  be  a  living  lan- 
guage. A  most  valuable  gift!  True  reformers  have 
ever  been  remarkable  for  a  desire  and  endeavour  to 
communicate  knowledge  among  the  ignorant:  and  it 
is  a  standing  reproach  to  the  whole  popish  system, 
that  however  pious  and  scripturally  judicious  some 
individuals  of  that  church  have  been,  no  pains  at  all 
were  taken  by  it  to  diffuse  biblical  knowledge  among  the 
vulgar.  The  praise  of  this  work,  if  we  except  the  sin- 
gle instance  of  the  Sclavonian  version  of  the  scriptures, 
which,  however,  was  executed  by  two  Greek  monks, 
and  not  by  papists,  is  purely  and  exclusively  of  pro- 
testant  origin  in  Europe,  during  all  the  ages  preceding 
the  reformation. 

As  Waldo  grew  more  acquainted  with  the  scrip- 
tures, he  discovered,  that  the  general  practice  of  nomi- 
nal christians  was  totally  abhorrent  from  the  doctrines 
of  the  new  testament:  and  in  particular,  that  a  number 
of  customs,  which  all  the  world  regarded  with  reve- 
rence, had  not  only  no  foundation  in  the  divine  oracles, 
but  were  even  condemned  by  them.  Inflamed  with 
equal  zeal  and  charity,  he  boldly  condemned  the  reign- 
ing vices,  and  the  arrogance  of  the  pope.  He  did 
more:  as  he  himself  grew  in  the  knowledge  of  the  true 
faith  and  love  of  Christ,  he  taught  his  neighbours  the 
principles  of  practical  godliness,  and  encouraged  them 
to  seek  salvation  by  Jesus  Christ. 

John  de  Beles  Mayons,  the  archbishop  of  Lyons, 
could  not  but  be  sensible  of  the  tendency  of  these  pro- 
ceedings, and  being  jealous  of  the  honour  of  the  cor- 
rupt system,  of  which  he  was  a  distinguished  member, 


419 

he  forbade  the  new  reformer  to  teach  any  more,  on 
pain  of  excommmiication,  and  of  being  proceeded 
against  as  an  heretic.  Waldo  replied,  that  though  he 
was  a  layman,  yet  he  could  not  be  silent  in  a  matter 
which  concerned  the  salvation  of  men.  On  this  reply, 
the  archbishop  endeavoured  to  apprehend  him.  But 
the  great  affection  of  Waldo's  friends,  the  influence  of 
his  relations,  who  were  men  of  rank,  the  universal  re- 
gard paid  to  his  probity  and  piety,  and  the  conviction 
which,  no  doubt,  many  felt,  that  the  extraordinary  cir- 
cumstances of  things  justified  his  assumption  of  the 
pastoral  character,*  all  these  things  operated  so  strongly 
in  his  favour,  that  he  lived  concealed  at  Lyons  for  the 
space  of  three  years. 

Among  other  scriptural  discoveries  the  evils  of  the 
popedom  struck  the  mind  of  Waldo;  and  pope  Alex- 
ander III.  having  heard  of  his  proceedings,  anathema- 
tized the  reformer  and  his  adherents,  and  commanded 
the  archbishop  to  proceed  against  them  with  the  ut- 
most rigor. 

Waldo  could  no  longer  remain  in  Lyons.  He  esca- 
ped; his  disciples  followed  him;  and  hence  a  dispersion 
took  place,  similar  to  that  which  arose  in  the  primitive 
church  on  occasion  of  the  persecution  of  Stephen.  The 
eflfects  were  also  similar:  the  doctrine  of  Waldo  was 
hence  more  widely  disseminated  through  Europe.  He 
himself  retired  into  Dauphiny,  where  his  tenets  took 
a  deep  and  lasting  root.  Some  of  his  people  did  pro- 
bably join  themselves  to  the  vaudois  of  Piedmont, 
and  the  new  translation  of  the  bible  wa!s,  doubtless,  a 
rich  accession  to  the  spiritual  treasures  of  that  people. 
Waldo  himself,  however,  seems  never  to  have  been 
among  them.  Persecuted  from  place  to  place,  he  re- 
tired into  Picardy.  Success  still  attended  his  labours; 

*  If  Waldo's  friends  reasoned  aright  in  tliis,  as  I  am  inclined  to  think 
they  did,  arguing  from  the  necessity  of  the  case  and  the  strength  of  that 
divine  aphorism,  "  I  will  have  mercy,  and  not  sacrifice,"  let  not,  however, 
such  extraordinary  cases  give  a  sanction  to  many  selfcreated  teachers, 
who  disturb  rather  than  strengthen  the  hands  of  faithful  pastors  by  their 
irregular  proceedings.  See  Butler's  Analogy,  page  232.  Oct.  edit. 


■^'  420 

and  the  doctrines,  which  he  preached,  appear  to  have 
so  harmonized  with  those  of  the  vaudois,  that  with 
reason  they  and  his  people  were  henceforward  consi- 
dered as  the  same. 

To  support  and  encourage  the  church  of  Christ, 
formed  no  part  of  the  glory  of  the  greatest  and  wisest 
princes  of  that  age.  The  barbarous  conduct  of  our 
Henry  II.  has  been  already  noticed;  and  Philip  Au- 
gustus, one  of  the  most  prudent  and  sagacious  princes 
which  France  ever  saw,  was  no  less  enslaved  by  the 
"  god  of  this  world."*  He  took  up  arms  against  the 
waldenses  of  Picardy,  pulled  down  three  hundred 
houses  of  the  gentlemen  who  supported  their  party, 
destroyed  some  walled  towns,  and  drove  the  inhabi- 
tants into  Flanders.  Not  content  with  this,  he  pursued 
them  thither,  and  caused  many  of  them  to  be  burned. 

From  the  account  of  a  very  authentic  French  histo- 
rian,f  it  appears,  that  Waldo  fled  into  Germany,  and 
at  last  settled  in  Bohemia.  There  he  ended  his  days 
in  the  year  1179,  or  before  that  time. J  It  is  evident, 
from  good  records,  that  the  churches  of  Dauphiny 
corresponded  with  those  of  Bohemia,  and  that  these 
last  were,  on  some  occasions  at  least,  supplied  with 
pastors  from  Piedmont.  These  things  show  the  mu- 
tual connexion  of  the  waldensian  churches,  and  prove 
the  superior  antiquity  of  those  of  the  valleys,  the  seve- 
rity of  the  persecution,  and  the  important  services  of 
Peter  Waldo.  A  very  extraordinary  personage!  resem- 

*  2  Cor.  iv.  4.  f  Thuan.  Hist,  sui  temp  457. 

\  The  account,  which  Mosheim  lias  given  us  of  the  waldenses,  is  so 
very  different  from  mine,  that  it  may  seem  proper,  that  I  should  assign 
the  reasons,  why  I  presume  to  differ  from  so  learned  an  historian  in  mat- 
ters of  fact.  1st.  I  have  adduced  ample  testimonies,  and  the  reader,  who 
will  consult  Dr.  Allix,  may  see  more,  to  prove,  that  these  persons  existed 
before  the  time  of  Peter  Waldo,  and  consequently,  that  he  was  not,  as 
Mosheim  asserts,  the  proper  parent  and  founder  of  the  sect.  2d.  That  his 
account  of  their  insisting  on  the  necessity  of  the  poverty  and  manual  la- 
bours of  their  pastors  is  a  mistake,  will  appear  from  their  own  declarations 
in  the  next  chapter.  3d.  So  far  was  Waldo  from  being  the  founder  of  the 
churches  of  the  valleys,  that  it  does  not  appear,  that  he  ever  was  in  Pied- 
mont at  all.  4th.  Whereas  Mosheim  asserts,  that  he  assumed  the  pastoral 
function  in  1180,  it  is  evident  from  Thuanus,  that  he  died  before  that  era. 
On  the  whole,  the  information  of  Mosheim  concerning  this  people,  seems 
very  scanty,  confused,  and  erroneous.  See  Mosheim,  vol.  i.  p.  615. 


421  ,4^- 

bling  in  many  respects  the  immediate  successors  of 
the  apostles  themselves!  But  his  piety,  endowments, 
and  labours,  have  met  with  no  historian  capable  of 
doing  them  justice;  and,  as  in  every  light  he  had  no 
reward  upon  earth,  he  appears  to  have  been  eminently 
one  of  those,  of  whom  the  world  was  not  worthy;  but 
he  turned  many  to  righteousness,  and  shall  shine  as 
the  stars  for  ever  and  ever.  *  The  word  of  God  grew 
and  multiplied,  in  the  places  where  he  had  planted, 
and  even  in  still  more  distant  regions.  In  Alsace  and 
along  the  Rhine  the  gospel  was  preached  with  a  pow- 
erful effusion*  of  the  holy  Spirit;  persecutions  ensued, 
and  thirty-five  citizens  of  Mentz  were  burned  at  one 
fire  in  the  city  of  Bingen,  and  at  Mentz  eighteen.  The 
bishop  of  Mentz  was  very  active  in  these  persecu- 
tions, and  the  bishop  of  Strasburg  was  not  inferior  to 
him  in  vindictive  zeal;  for,  through  his  means,  eighty- 
persons  were  burned  at  Strasburg.  Every  thing  relat- 
ing to  the  waldenses  resembled  the  scenes  of  the  pri- 
mitive church.  Numbers  died  praising  God,  and  in 
confident  assurance  of  a  blessed  resurrection;  whence 
the  blood  of  the  martyrs  again  became  the  seed  of  the 
church;  and  in  Bulgaria,  Croatia,  Dalmatia,  and  Hun- 
gary,  churches  were  planted,  which  flourished  in  the 
thirteenth  century,  governed  by  Bartholomew,  a  na- 
tive of  Carcassone,  a  city  not  far  distant  from  Tou- 
louse, which  might  be  called  in  those  days  the  metro- 
polis of  the  waldenses,  on  account  of  the  numbers  who 
there  professed  evangelical  truth,  f  In  Bohemia  and  in  the 
country  of  Passaw,  the  churches  wereTeckoned  to  have 
contained  eighty  thousand  professors  in  the  former  part 
of  the  fourteenth  century.  Almost  throughout  Europe 
waldenses  were  to  be  found;  and  yet  they  were  treated 
as  the  offscouring  of  the  earth,  and  as  people  against 
whom  all  the  power  and  wisdom  of  the  world  were 
united.  But  "  the  witnesses  continued  to  prophecy 
in  sackcloth,"^  and  souls  were  built  up  in  the  faith, 

*  Daniel  xii. 

tMatthew  Paris,  in  his  Hist,  of  Henry  III,  Ann.  122.J. 

\  Revelat.  xi. 

Vol.  III.  54 


422 


the  hope,  and  the  charity  of  the  gospel;  and  here  was 
the  faith  and  patience  of  the  saints. 


CHAP.  II. 

The  real  Character  of  the  Waldenses. 

JbSUT  we  are  justly  called  on,  in  this  place,  to  vindi- 
■Cate  the  claim,  which  this  people  made  to  the  honour- 
able character  of  the  church  of  God.  In  times  of  verv 
great  decline,  whoever  is  led  by  the  spirit  of  God  to 
revive  true  religion,  necessarily  exposes  himself  to  the 
invidious  charges  of  arrogance,  uncharitableness,  and 
selfconceit.  By  condemning  all  others,  he  provokes 
the  rest  of  the  world  to  observe  and  investigate  his 
faults.  These  disadvantages  the  waldenses  had  in  com- 
mon with  other  reformers:  they  had  also  disadvantages 
peculiarly  their  own.  Power,  knowledge,  and  learn- 
ing, were  almost  entirely  in  the  hands  of  their  adver- 
saries: in  them  very  particularly  God  Almighty  chose 
the  weak  and  foolish  things  of  the  world  to  confound 
the  wise.  As  they  were,  for  the  most  part,  a  plain  and 
illiterate  people,  they  furnished  no  learned  divines,  no 
profound  reasoners,  nor  able  historians.  The  vindica- 
tion, therefore,  of  their  claims  to  the  character  of  a 
true  church  must  be  drawn  principally  from  the  holi- 
ness of  their  lives  and  the  patience  of  their  sufferings. 
There  are,  however,  besides  these,  certain  documents 
respecting  their  principles,  which  will  enable  the  can- 
did and  attentive  reader  to  form  a  just  estimate  of 
these  men. 

Nothina:  can  exceed  the  calumnies  of  their  adver- 
sarics:  in  this  respect  they  had  the  honour  to  bear  the 
cross  of  the  first  christians.  Poor  men  of  Lyons  and 
dogs  were  the  usual  terms  of  derision.  In  Provence 
they  were  all  called  cutpurses:  in  Italy,  because  they 
observed  not  the  appointed  festivals,  and  rested  from 


423 

their  ordinary  occupations  only  on  Sundays,  they  were 
called  insabathas;  that  is,  regardless  of  sabbaths.  In 
Germany,  they  were  called  gazares,  a  term  expressive 
of  every  thing  flagitiously  wicked.  In  Flanders  the}- 
were  denominated  turlupins,  that  is,  inhabitants  with 
wolves,  because  they  were  often  obliged  to  dwell  in 
woods  and  deserts.  And  because  they  denied  the  con- 
secrated host  to  be  God,  they  were  accused  of  arian- 
ism,  as  if  they  had  denied  the  divinity  of  Jesus  Christ. 
Our  old  historian  Hoveden  calls  them  arians.*  It  was 
not  possible  for  these  poor  sufferers  to  speak  a  word 
in  defence  or  explanation  of  their  doctrines,  but  ma- 
lice, which  discolors  every  thing,  was  sure  to  misre- 
present it.  If  they  maintained  the  independency  of  the 
temporal  powers  on  the  ecclesiastical,  a  doctrine  now 
believed  almost  universally  in  Europe,  they  were  called 
manichees,  as  if  they  favoured  the  notion  of  two  prin- 
ciples. So  I  find  Baronius  calls  them,  observing  that 
they  were  rather  manichees  than  arians.f  The  old 
odious  name  of  gnostic  also  was  revived,  with  every 
other  term  of  ancient  or  modern  opprobrium,  which 
might  infix  a  stigma  on  the  character  of  the  sufferers, 
and  seem  to  justify  the  barbarity  with  which  they  were 
treated. 

Matthew  Paris  himself,  one  of  the  most  valuable  of 
the  monkish  historians,  calls  them  ribalds,  or  disso- 
lute men.  They  were  termed,  and  as  numbers  believ- 
ed, not  without  justice,  sorcerers,  and  even  sodomites. 
It  is  surprising  how  the  old  calumnies,  Avith  which  the 
pagans  blackened  the  primitive  christians,  were  renew- 
ed, namely,  that  they  met  in  the  night,  were  guilty  of 
incest,  and  the  like.  Rainerius,  their  adversary,  as 
mentioned  above,  was  not  ashamed  to  repeat  this  ab- 
surd accusation.  To  which  he  adds,  that  they  allowed 
divorces  at  pleasure,  in  order  that  they  might  live  with 
their  sectarian  brethren;  that  they  worshipped  their 
pastors;  and  that  they  maintained  as  a  principle  that  no 
magistrate  ought  to  condemn  any  person  to  death, 

*  Hoveden,  p.  "27.  t  Baron,  cent.  xii.  Ann.  1176; 


424 

But  it  were  endless  to  recite  calumnies  of  this  kind:  let 
us  see  how  they  cleared  themselves  by  their  own  wri- 
tings. An  apology  was  still  extant  in  the  time  of  Per- 
rin,  which  the  waldenses  of  Bohemia  sent  to  Ladislaus, 
king  of  Hungary  and  Bohemia,  by  whom  they  were 
grievously  persecuted.  From  this  and  some  other  of 
their  writings,  their  conduct  is  defended. 

In  answer  to  the  charge  of  lewdness,  they  strongly, 
deny  it,  and  gravely  express  their  abhorrence  of  the 
sin.  "  This  vice,"  sa}^  they,  "  consumes  the  estates  of 
many,  as  it  is  said  of  the  prodigal  son,  who  wasted  his 
substance  in  riotous  living.  Balaam  made  choice  of 
this  vice,  to  provoke  the  children  of  Israel  to  offend 
their  God.  Hence  Sampson  lost  his  sight.  Hence  So- 
lomon was  perverted,  and  many  have  perished.  The  re- 
medies for  this  sin  are  fasting,  prayer,  and  the  keep- 
ing at  a  distance  from  temptation.  Other  vices  may  be 
subdued  by  fighting;  in  this  we  conquer  by  flight." 
Let  men  of  this  refined  age,  who  are  enslaved  by  un- 
cleanness,  learn  some  good  rules  from  the  waldenses, 
whose  simplicity  was  mixed  with  true  wisdom.  The 
charge  of  admitting  divorces  at  pleasure  they  abhor, 
and  quote  the  scripture*  against  the  practice:  "  Let 
not  the  wife  depart  from  her  husband,  nor  the  hus- 
band put  away  his  wife."  They  published  also  a  book, 
describing  the  causes  of  their  separation  from  the  ro- 
man  church.  The  separation  was  at  length  made  com- 
plete, indeed,  through  the  violence  of  their  persecu- 
tors; but  I  have  elsewhere  observed,  that  the  desire  of 
separating  from  the  Latin  church  did  not  commence 
with  them.  This  people  were  injuriously  represented 
also  as  holding  the  community  of  goods,  and  denying 
the  right  of  all  private  property.  Their  answer  to  the 
charge  was  very  satisfactory.  "  Every  one  of  us  hath 
possessed  his  own  at  all  times  and  in  all  places.  In 
Dauphiny  and  other  parts,  when  we  were  dispossessed 
of  our  substance,  the  suits  for  the  recovery  of  each  es- 

*  1  Cor.  vii. 


425 

tate  were  conducted  by  the  particular  proprietors.* 
The  waldenses  of  Provence  do  at  this  present  time  de- 
mand of  the  pope  the  restoration  of  the  lands  and  es- 
tates annexed  to  his  domain  by  confiscation;  every 
particular  person  making  oath  of  his  parcel  of  goods 
and  lands,  which  descended  to  him  from  time  imme- 
morial; for  we  never  have  had  community  of  pro- 
perty in  the  sense  objected  to  us  by  our  adversaries." 
Nothing  is  more  common  than  to  slander  true  chris- 
tians with  aspersions,  which  tend  to  deprive  them  of  all 
respectability  in  society,  and  to  represent  them  as  quite 
unfit  for  the  ordinary  purposes  of  human  life.  We  have 
just  seen  a  foul  attempt  of  this  nature  formed  against 
the  waldenses.  To  the  same  purport  they  were  charg- 
ed with  denying  the  lawfulness  of  oaths  in  all  cases 
without  exception.  This  point  of  their  history  has  its 
difficulties:  what  they  really  held  on  the  doctrine  of 
oatlis  is  not  very  apparent  from  the  account  which 
Usher  gives  us.f  Most  probably  they  condemned  the 
multiplicity  of  oaths,  with  which  the  courts  of  law 
abounded.  That  they  did  not,  however,  maintain  the 
absolute  unlawfulness  of  oaths  is  certain,  from  the  ex- 
position of  the  third  commandment  in  their"  spiritual 
almanack;"  in  which  are  these  words;  "  there  are  some 
oaths  lawful,  tending  to  the  honour  of  God,  and  the 
edification  of  our  neighbour,  as  appears  from  Heb.  vi. 
16.  Men  swear  by  a  greater,  and  an  oath  for  confirm- 
ation is  to  them  an  end  of  all  strife."  Other  scriptures 
are  alleged  by  them  to  the  same  purport.  Men  who 
held  these  things  should  be  acquitted  of  the  charge  of 
universally  denying  the  lawfulness  of  oaths.  But  it 
seems  to  have  been  one  of  the  common  artifices  of  the 
prince  of  darkness  to  calumniate  the  people  of  God  in 
this  manner.  He  knows,  that  if  religious  men  be 
thought  wholly  unfitted  for  this  world,  because  of  cer- 

*  This  appears  by  the  legal  process,  existing  in  Perrin's  time,  which 
shews  that  Lewis  xii.  condemned  the  usurpers  of  the  goods  of  the  wal- 
denses to  a  restitution.  This  happened  about  the  beginning  of  the  six- 
teenth century. 

t  Usher  De  Christ.  Ecc   success.  &  statu. 


426 

tain  absurd  or  ridiculous  customs,  the  generality  of 
mankind  will  pay  no  great  regard  to  their  instructions 
concerning  the  right  way  to  the  next.  It  is,  therefore, 
of  some  consequence,  to  clear  up  the  character  of  true 
christians  in  this  respect. 

Another  charge  against  them  was,  that  they  denied 
baptism  to  infants.  In  answer  to  this,  in  their  spiritual 
almanack,  they  say,  "  neither  the  time  nor  the  place  is 
appoinj^ed  for  those,  who  must  be  baptized.  But  we  do 
bring  our  children  to  be  baptized,  which  they  ought  to 
do,  to  whom  they  are  nearest  related;  their  parents  or 
those  whom  God  hath  inspired  with  such  charity."  If 
this  be  the  case,  and  the  evidence  of  their  own  books  ap- 
pears to  be  unanswerable,  it  seems  improper  to  look  on 
the  waldenses  as  averse  to  infant  baptism.  Yet,  that 
some  of  them  were  regarded  as  professed  enemies  to 
the  baptism  of  infants,  is  affirmed  on  respectable  au- 
thority,* and  it  possibly  might  be  the  case  with  a  few 
of  them.  The  greater  part  of  them  are,  however,  vin- 
dicated in  this  respect  by  an  authority  from  which 
lies  no  appeal,  their  own  authentic  writings.  However, 
having  been  for  some  hundred  of  years  constrained  to 
suffer  their  children  to  be  baptized  by  the  Romish 
priest,  they  were  under  frequent  temptations  to  defer 
it,  on  account  of  the  superstitious  inventions  annexed 
to  that  holy  ordinance  in  those  times:  and  very  fre- 
quently, on  account  of  the  absence  of  their  own  pas- 
tors, whom  they  called  barbs,  who  were  travelling 
abroad  for  the  service  of  the  churches,  they  could  not 
have  baptism  administered  to  their  children  by  their 
ministry.  The  delay  occasioned  by  these  things  ex- 
posed them  to  the  reproach  of  their  adversaries.  And 
though  many,  who  approved  of  them  in  all  other  res- 
pects, gave  credit  to  the  accusation,  I  cannot  find  any 
satisfactory  proof,  that  they  were,  in  judgment,  anti- 
pasdo-baptists  strictly.  And  it  is  very  probable,  that 
some  of  the  supposed  heretics,  who  have  been  men- 
tioned above, t   delayed  the  baptism  of  their  children 

*  Cent.  Magd.  xii.  833.  f  See  p.  362-  of  this  volume. 


427 

on  the  same  account;  because  similar  circumstances 
would  naturally  be  attended  with  similar  effects.  On 
the  whole,  a  few  instances  excepted,  the  existence  of 
antipasdo-baptism,  seems  scarcely  to  have  taken  place 
in  the  church  of  Christ,  till  a  little  after  the  beginning 
of  the  reformation,  when  a  sect  arose,  whom  historians 
commonly  call  the  anabaptists.  I  lay  no  great  stress  on 
this  subject;  for  the  waldenses  might  have  been  a 
faithful,  humble,  and  spiritual  people,  as  I  believe 
they  were,  if  they  had  differed  from  the  general  body 
of  christians  on  this  article.  But  when  I  find  persons 
to  have  been  taken  as  enemies  to  infant  baptism  on 
principle,  who  were  not  so,  it  seemed  to  be  a  part 
of  historical  veracity  to  represent  things  as  they  really 
were. 

The  charge  of  worshipping  their  barbs  is  suffici- 
ently confuted  by  their  exposition  of  the  first  com- 
mandment in  the  book  of  their  doctrine.  Indeed  Al- 
bert de  Capitaneis,  their  grand  enemy  in  the  diocese 
of  Turin,  violently  tortured  them,  in  order  to  extort 
from  them  a  confession  of  this  idolatry,  but  to  no 
purpose. 

It  was  a  gross  calumny  to  accuse  them  as  enemies 
to  the  penal  power  of  the  magistrate,  because  they 
complained  of  the  abuse  of  his  power  in  condemning 
true  christians  to  death  without  a  fair  examination; 
when,  at  the  same  time,  in  their  own  books,  they  as- 
serted, that  "  a  malefactor  ought  not  to  be  suffered  to 
live."* 

No  less  unjust  were  the  charges  against  them  of 
seditiousness  and  undutifulness  to  the  supreme  power. 
For  in  the  book  of  the  causes  of  their  separation  from 
the  church  of  Rome,  they  said,  that  every  one  ought 
to  be  subject  to  those,  who  are  in  authority,  to  obey 
and  love  them,  to  honour  them  with  double  honour, 
with  subjection,  allegiance,  and  promptitude,  and  the 
paying  of  tribute  to  whom  tribute  is  due.  The  charges 
of  sodomy,  sorcery,   and  the  like  abominations  are 

*  In  a  book  of  the  waldenses,  callecj  "  The  Light  of  the  ttrasiire  of 
Faith." 


428 

sufficiently  confuted  by  the  authentic  writings,  holy 
lives,  and  patient  sufferings  of  this  people. 

One  charge  more  against  them  is,  that  they  com- 
pelled their  pastors  to  follow  some  trade.  How  satis- 
factory their  answer!  "  We  do  not  think  it  necessary 
that  our  pastors  should  work  for  bread.  They  might 
be  better  qualified  to  instruct  us,  if  we  could  maintain 
them  without  their  own  labour;  but  our  poverty  has 
no  remedy."  So  they  speak  in  letters  published  in 
1508.* 

We  have  hitherto  rather  rescued  their  character 
from  infamy,  than  delineated  its  real  nature.  They  ap- 
pear, on  the  whole,  to  have  been  most  unjustly  aspers- 
ed; and  the  reader  will  be  enabled  to  form  some  idea 
of  their  piety  and  probity  from  the  following  testimo- 
nies of  their  enemies. 

A  pontifical  inquisitoi"}-  says,  "  heretics  are  known 
by  their  manners.  In  behaviour  they  are  composed 
and  modest,  and  no  pride  appears  in  their  apparel." 
Seysillius  says,  it  much  strengthens  the  waldenses, 
that,  their  heresy  excepted,  they  generally  live  a  purer 
life  than  other  christians.  They  never  swear  but  by 
compulsion,  and  seldom  take  the  name  of  God  in  vain: 
they  fulfil  their  promises  with  good  faith;  and,  living 
for  the  most  part  in  poverty,  they  profess  that  they  at 
once  preserve  the  apostolical  life  and  doctrine.  Lielen- 
stenius,  a  dominican,  speaking  of  the  waldenses  of 
Bohemia,  says,  "  I  say  that  in  morals  and  life  they  are 
good;  true  in  words,  unanimous  in  brotherly  love;  but 
their  faith  is  incorrigible  and  vile,  as  I  have  shown  in 
my  treatise." 

These  testimonies,  for  which  I  am  obliged  to  the 
researches  of  archbishop  Usher,  seem  to  me  to  be 
important.  The  first,  as  far  as  it  goes,  is  favourable; 
and  the  second  and  third,  are  exceedingly  decisive. 
Causes  and  effects  are  necessarily  connected.  How 
could  the  romanist  last  quoted  suppose,  that  the  faith 
of  men  could  be  bad,  whose  fruits  were  so  excellent? 

*  Usher  de  Cltrist.  EccK  succ.  k  statu.  f  Id. 


429 

Could  he  show  any  such  fruits  in  the  Roman  church 
in  general  at  that  time? 

We  have  now  seen  the  fullest  testimony  to  the  ho- 
liness of  the  waldenses;  and  we  shall  see  shortly  that 
the  doctrines  which  they  held,  were  no  other  than 
those,  which,  under  the  divine  influence,  we  have  all 
along  observed  to  be  the  constant  root  of  virtue  in  the 
world. 

Rainerius,  the  cruel  persecutor,  owns  that  the  wal- 
denses frequently  read  the  holy  scriptures,  and  in  their 
preaching  cited  the  words  of  Christ  and  his  apostles 
concerning  love,  humility,  and  other  virtues;  inso- 
much that  the  women,  who  heard  them,  vv^re  en- 
raptured with  the  sound.  He  further  says,  that  they 
taught  men  to  live,  by  the  words  of  the  gospel  and 
the  apostles;  that  they  led  religious  lives;  that  their 
manners  Avere  seasoned  with  grace,  and  their  words 
prudent;  that  they  freely  discoursed  of  divine  things, 
that  they  might  be  esteemed  good  men.  He  observes, 
likewise,  that  they  taught  their  children  and  families 
the  epistles  and  gospels.  Claude,  bishop  of  Turin, 
wrote  a  treatise  against  their  doctrines,  in  which  he 
candidly  owns  that  they  themselves  were  blameless, 
without  reproach  among  men,  and  that  they  observed 
the  divine  commands  ^vith  all  their  might. 

Jacob  de  Riberia  says,  that  he  had  seen  peasants 
among  them,  who  could  recite  the  book  of  Job  by 
heart;  and  several  others,  who  could  perfectly  repeat 
the  whole  new  testament. 

The  bishop  of  Cavaillon  once  obliged  a  preaching 
monk  to  enter  into  conference  with  them,  that  they 
might  be  convinced  of  their  errors,  and  the  eflfusion  of 
blood  be  prevented.  This  happened  during  a  great 
persecution  in  1540,  in  Merindol  and  Provence.  But 
the  monk  returned  in  confusion,  owning  that  he  had 
never  known  in  his  Mhole  life  so  much  of  the  scrip- 
tures, as  he  had  learned  during  those  few  days,  in 
which  he  had  held  conferences  with  the  heretics.  The 
bishop,  however,  sent  among  them  a  number  of  doc- 

VoL.  nr.  55 


430 

tors,  young  men  who  had  lately  come  from  the  Sor- 
bonne,  which  was  at  that  time  the  very  centre  of  the- 
ological subtilty  at  Paris.  One  of  them  openly  owned, 
that  he  had  understood  more  of  the  doctrine  of  salva- 
tion from  the  answers  of  the  little  children  in  their 
catechism,  than  by  all  the  disputations  which  he  had 
ever  heard.  This  is  the  testimony  of  Vesembecius  in 
his  oration  concerning  the  waldenses.  The  same  au- 
thor informs  us  farther,  that  Lewis  XII.  importuned 
by  the  calumnies  of  informers,  sent  two  respectable 
persons  into  Provence,  to  make  inquiries.  They  re- 
ported, that  in  visiting  all  their  parishes  and  temples, 
they  found  no  images  or  roman  ceremonies,  but  that 
they  could  not  discover  any  marks  of  the  crimes  with 
which  they  were  charged;  that  the  sabbath  was  strictly 
observed;  that  children  were  baptized  according  to  the 
rules  of  the  primitive  church,  and  instructed  in  the 
articles  of  the  christian  faith,  and  the  commandments 
of  God.  Lewis  having  heard  the  report,  declared  with 
an  oath,  "  they  are  better  men  than  myself  or  my  peo- 
ple." On  of  the  confessors  of  the  same  king  having, 
by  his  orders,  visited  the  valley  of  Fraissiniere  in  Dau- 
phiny,  was  so  struck  with  the  holy  lives  of  the  people 
there,  that  he  declared,  in  the  hearing  of  several  com- 
petent witnesses,  that  he  wished  he  himself  were  so 
good  a  christian  as  the  worst  inhabitant  in  that  valley. 
We  must  add  here  the  testimony  of  that  great  histo- 
rian Thuanus,  an  enemy  indeed  to  the  waldenses, 
though  a  fair  and  candid  one.*  He  is  describing  one 
of  the  valleys  inhabited  by  this  people  in  Dauphiny, 
which  is  called  the  stoney  valley.  "  Their  clothing," 
he  says,  "  is  of  the  skins  of  sheep;  they  have  no  linen. 
They  inhabit  seven  villages:  their  houses  are  con- 
structed of  flint  stone  with  a  flat  roof  covered  with 
mud,  which  being  spoiled  or  loosened  by  rain,  they 
smooth  again  with  a  roller.  In  these  they  live  with 
their  cattle,  separated  from  them,  however,  by  a  fence; 
they  have  besides  two  caves  set  apart  for  particular 

*Th>iaii.  Hist.  b.  27.  p.  16. 


431 

purposes,  in  one  of  whicli  they  coneeal  their  cattle,  in 
the  other  themselves,  when  hunted  by  their  enemies. 
They  live  on  milk  and  venison,  being  by  constant 
practice  excellent  marksmen.  Poor  as  they  are,  they 
are  content,  and  live  separate  from  the  rest  of  mankind. 
One  thing  is  astonishing,  that  person?*  externally  so 
savage  and  rude,  should  have  so  much  moral  cultiva- 
tion. They  can  all  read  and  write.  They  understand 
French,  so  far  as  is  needful  for  the  understanding  of 
the  bible  and  the  singing  of  psalms.  You  can  scarce 
find  a  boy  among  them,  who  cannot  give  you  an  intel- 
ligible account  of  the  faith,  which  they  profess;  in  this, 
indeed,  they  resemble  their  brethren  of  the  other  val- 
leys: they  pay  tribute  with  a  good  conscience,  and  the 
obligation  of  this  duty  is  peculiarly  noted  in  the  con- 
fession of  their  faith.  If,  by  reason  of  the  civil  wars, 
they  are  prevented  from  doing  this,  they  carefully  set 
apart  the  sum,  and  at  the  first  opportunity  pay  it  to  the 
king's  taxgatherers." 

Francis  I.  the  successor  of  Lewis  XII.  received, 
on  inquiry,  the  following  information  concerning  the 
waldensesof  Merindol,  and  other  neighbouring  places; 
namely,  that  they  were  a  laborious  people,  who  came 
from  Piedmont  to  dwell  in  Provence,  about  two  hun- 
dred years  ago;  that  they  had  much  improved  the 
country  by  their  industry;  that  their  manners  were 
most  excellent;  and  that  they  were  honest,  liberal,  hos- 
pitable, and  humane;  that  they  were  distinct  from  others 
in  this,  that  they  could  not  bear  the  sound  of  blasphe- 
my, or  the  naming  of  the  devil,  or  any  oaths,  except 
on  solemn  occasions;  and,  that  if  ever  they  fell  into 
company  where  blasphemy  or  lewdness  formed  the 
substance  of  the  discourse,  they  instantly  withdrew 
themselves. 

Such  are  the  testimonies  to  the  character  of  this 
people  from  enemies! 

That  they  are  well  spoken  of  by  protestants  since 
the  reformation,  might  be  expected;  and  I  need  not 
dwell  largely  upon  evidences  drawn  from  this  source. 
Beza,  Bullinger,  and  Luther,  testify  the  excellence  of 


432 

the  waldenscs.  The  last  mentioned  reformer  deserves 
the  more  to  be  regarded,  because  he  owns  that  he 
once  was  prejudiced  against  them.  He  understood  by 
their  confessions  and  writings,  that  they  had  been,  for 
ages,  singularly  serious  and  expert  in  the  use  of  the 
scriptures.  Ke  rejoiced  and  gave  thanks  to  God,  that 
he  had  enabled  the  reformed  and  the  waldenses,  to  see 
and  own  each  other  as  brethren.'* 

Qicolampadius  and  Martin  Buccr  also,  in  the  year 
1530,  wrote  an  affectionate  letter  to  the  waldenses  of 
Provence. 

After  so  many  testimonies  to  the  character  of  this 
people,  the  evidence  of  Vignaux,  a  waldensian  pastor 
in  the  valleys  cf  Piedmont,  who  wrote  a  treatise  on 
their  life  and  manners,  may  deserve  our  attention. 
"  We  never  mix  ourselves,"  says  he,  "  with  the 
church  of  Rome,  in  inarriage.  Yet  roman  catholic 
lords  and  others  prefer  our  people  as  servants  to  those 
of  their  own  religion,  and  come  from  far  to  seek  nurses 
among  us  for  their  children." 

It  is  remarkable  that  Thomas  Walden,  who  wrote 
against  Wickliff",  says,  that  the  doctrine  of  Waldo  was 
conveyed  from  France  into  England.  It  may  not,  per- 
haps, be  thought  improbable,  that  the  English,  being 
masters  of  Guienne  for  a  long  time,  should  have  re- 
ceived some  beams  of  divine  truth  from  the  followers 
of  Waldo.  By  the  general  confession  of  the  romanists, 
indeed,  the  protestants  and  the  waldenses  were  look- 
ed on  as  holding  the  same  principles. 

The  churches  cf  Piedmont,  however,  on  account  of 
their  superior  antiquity,  were  regarded  as  guides  of 
the  rest;  insomuch,  that  when  two  pastors,  who  had 
been  sent  by  them  into  Bohemia,  acted  with  perfidy, 
and  occasioned  a  grievous  persecution,  still  the  Bohe- 
mians ceased  not  to  desire  pastors  from  Piedmont, 
only  they  requested,  that  none  but  persons  of  tried 
characters  might  be  sent  to  them  for  the  future. 

I  can  only  give  the  general  outlines:  if  the  finer  and 

^'  Vesembecui''. 


more  numerous  lines  of  this  scene  could  be  circum- 
stantially drawn,  a  spectacle  more  glorious  could 
scarcely  be  exhibited  to  the  reader.  From  the  bor- 
ders of  Spain,  throughout  the  south  of  France  for  the 
most  part,  among  and  below  the  Alps,  along  the 
Rhine,  on  both  sides  of  its  course,  and  even  to  Bohe- 
mia, thousands  of  godly  souls  were  seen  patiently  to 
bear  persecution  for  the  sake  of  Christ,  against  whom 
malice  could  say  no  evil,  but  what  admits  the  most  sa- 
tisfactory refutation:  men  distinguished  for  every  vir- 
tue, and  only  hated  because  of  godliness  itself.  Perse- 
cutors with  a  sigh  owned,  that,  because  of  their  virtue, 
they  were  the  most  danj^erous  enemies  of  the  church. 
But  of  what  church?  Of  that,  which  in  the  thirteenth 
century  and  long  before  had  evidenced  itself  to  be 
antichristian.  Here  were  not  an  individual  or  two, 
like  Bernard,  but  very  many  real  christians,  who  held 
the  real  doctrijies  of  scripture,  and  carefully  abstained 
from  all  the  idolatry  of  the  times.  How  obdurate  is 
the  heart  of  man  by  nature!  men  could  see  and  own 
the  superior  excellence  of  these  persons,  and  yet  could 
barbarously  persecute  them!  what  a  blessed  light  is 
that  of  scripture!  By  that  the  waldenses  saw  the  road 
to  heaven,  of  which  the  wisest  of  their  contemporaries 
were  ignorant,  who,  though  called  christians,  made  no 
use  of  the  oracles  of  God!  How  marvellous  are  the 
ways  of  God!  how  faithful  his  promise  in  supporting 
and  maintaining  a  church,  even  in  the  darkest  times!  but 
her  livery  is  often  sackcloth,  and  her  external  bread 
is  that  of  affliction,  while  she  sojourns  on  earth.  But 
let  no  factious  partizan  encourage  himself  in  sedition 
by  looking  at  the  waldenses.  We  have  seen  how  obe- 
dient they  were  to  established  governments;  and  that 
separation  from  a  church,  so  corrupt  as  that  of  Rome, 
was  with  them  only  matter  of  necessity.  The  best  and 
wisest  in  all  ages  have  acted  in  the  same  manner,  and 
have  dreaded  the  evils  of  schism  more  than  those  of  a 
defect  in  discipline.  We  shall  now  see  what  the  wal- 
denses were  in  point  of  doctrine  and  discipline.  For 
their  virtues  had  an  evangelical  principle,  and  it  is 


434 


only  to  be  regretted  that  the  accounts  are  very  scanty 
on  a  subject  worthy  the  attention  of  all,  who  desire  t© 
understand  the  loving  kindness  of  the  Lord. 


CHAP.  III. 

The  Doctrine  and  Discipline  of  the  Waldeiises. 

1  HE  leading  principle  of  this  church,  which  God 
raised  up  in  the  dark  ages  to  bear  witness  to  his  gos- 
pel, is  that,  in  which  all  the  protestant  churches  agreed, 
namel}',  "  that  "vve  ought  to  believe  that  the  holy  scrip- 
tures alone  contain  all  things  necessary  to  our  salva- 
tion,  and  that  nothing  ought  to  be  received  as  an 
article  of  faith  but  what  God  hath  revealed  to  us.* 
Wherever  this  principle  is  not  only  assented  to  in  form, 
but  also  received  with  the  heart,  it  expels  superstition 
and  idolatry.  The  worship  of  one  God,  through  the 
one  mediator,  and  by  the  influence  of  one  holy  Spirit, 
is  practised  sincerely.  For  the  dreams  of  purgatory, 
the  intercession  of  saints,  the  adoration  of  images,  de- 
pendence on  relics  and  austerities,  cannot  stand  before 
the  doctrine  of  scripture.  Salvation  by  grace,  through 
faith  in  Christ  alone,  as  it  is  the  peculiar  truth  and 
glory  of  the  scriptures,  so  it  is  the  boast  and  joy  of 
the  christian,  who  knows  himself  to  be  that  guilty  pol- 
luted creature,  which  the  same  scriptures  describe. 
How  abominable  to  such  an  one  must  appear  the  doc- 
trine of  indulgences,  and  of  commutation  for  offences, 
and  the  whole  structure  of  the  papal  domination!  The 
true  love  of  God  and  of  our  neighbour,  even  the  true 
holiness,  which  is  the  great  end  and  aim  of  Christ's 
redemption,  must  be  subverted  by  these  human  in- 
ventions. The  waldenses  were  faithful  to  the  great 
fundamental  principle  of  protestantism.  Enough  ap- 
pears on  record  to  prove,  that  they  were  formed  by  the 

*  Vignaux  in  his  memorials  of  the  waldenses.  See  this  principle  expres- 
sed in  a  similar  manner  in  the  sixth  article  of  the  church  of  England. 


435 

grace  of  God,  to  show  forth  his  praise  in  the  world; 
and  great  as  the  resemblance  appears  between  them 
and  the  reformed,  if  we  had  as  many  writings  of  the 
former,  as  we  have  of  the  latter,  the  resemblance  in  all 
probability  would  appear  still  more  striking. 

"  They  *  affirm,  that  there  is  only  one  mediator, 
and  therefore  that  we  must  not  invocate  the  saints. 

"  That  there  is  no  purgatory;  but  that  all  those, 
who  are  justified  by  Christ,  go  into  life  eternal." 

They  receive  two  sacraments,  baptism  and  the 
Lord's  supper.  They  affirm,  that  all  masses  are  damn- 
able, especially  those,  which  are  repeated  for  the  dead, 
and  that  therefore  they  ought  to  be  abolished;  to  which 
they  add  the  rejection  of  numberless  ceremonies. 
They  deny  the  supremacy  of  the  pope,  especially  the 
power,  which  he  hath  usurped  over  the  civil  govern- 
ment; and  they  admit  no  other  degrees,  except  those 
of  bishops,  priests,  and  deacons.  They  condemn  the 
popedom  as  the  true  Babylon,  allow  the  marriage  of 
the  clergy,  and  define  the  true  church  to  be  those,  who 
hear  and  understand  the  word  of  God." 

Vignaux  mentions  old  manuscripts  extant  among 
the  waldenses,  containing  catechisms  and  sermons,, 
which  demonstrate  with  what  superior  light  they  were 
favoured,  in  a  time  of  immense  darkness.  A  number 
of  their  old  treatises  evince,  that  for  some  hundred  of 
years  the  principles  of  the  gospel,  which  alone  can 
produce  such  holiness  of  life  as  the  waldenses  exhi- 
bited in  their  conduct,  were  professed,  understood, 
and  embraced  by  this  chosen  people,  while  antichrist 
was  in  the  very  height  of  his  power. 

They  appear  to  have  had  all  the  essentials  of  church 
discipline  among  them;  and  their  circumstances  of 
distress,  of  poverty,  and  of  persecution,  however  dis- 
agreeable to  flesh  and  blood,  favoured  that  spirit  of 
submission  and  subordination,  which  ever  promotes  a 
salutary  exercise  of  discipline;  through  the  want  of 
which,  among  ourselves,  church  rules  are  too  com- 


436 

nionly  treated  as  insignificant.  A  state  of  refinement, 
of  wealth,  of  luxury,  and  of  political  speculation,  was 
unknown  to  the  waldenses:  how  subversive  such  a 
state  is  apt  to  be  of  the  most  wholesome  ecclesiastical 
authority,  the  experience  of  our  own  age  demonstrates. 

In  a  book  concerning  their  pastors  we  have  this  ac- 
count of  their  vocation. 

"  All,  who  are  to  be  ordained  as  pastors  among  us, 
while  they  are  yet  at  home,  intreat  us  to  receive  them 
into  the  ministry,  and  desire  that  we  would  pray  to 
God,  that  they  may  be  rendered  capable  of  so  great  a 
charge.  They  are  to  learn  by  heart  all  the  chapters  of 
St.  Matthew  and  St.  John,  all  the  canonical  epistles, 
and  a  good  part  of  the  writings  of  Solomon,  David, 
and  the  prophets.  Afterwards,  having  exhibited  pro- 
per testimonials  of  their  learning  and  conversation, 
they  are  admitted  as  pastors  by  the  imposition  of 
hands.  The  junior  pastors  must  do  nothing  without 
the  license  of  their  seniors;  nor  are  the  seniors  to  under- 
take any  thing  without  the  approbation  of  their  col- 
leagues, that  every  thing  may  be  done  among  us  in 
order.  ^Ve  pastors  meet  together  once  every  year,  to 
settle  our  affairs,  in  a  general  synod.  Those,  whom  we 
teach,  afford  us  food  and  raiment  with  good  will,  and 
without  compulsion.  The  money  given  us  by  the  peo- 
ple is  carried  to  the  said  general  synod,  is  there  re- 
ceived by  the  elders,  and  is  applied  partly  to  the  supply 
of  travellers,  and  partly  to  the  relief  of  the  indigent. 
If  a  pastor  among  us  shall  fall  into  a  gross  sin,  he  is 
ejected  from  the  community,  and  debarred  from  the 
function  of  preaching." 

Such  was  the  manner  of  choosing  the  barbs,  and 
such  was  the  plan  of  church  government. 

To  transcribe  their  confessions  of  faith  would  be 
tedious;  let  it  sufiice  to  mention  the  most  interesting 
points.  They  unquestionably  received  the  apostle's 
creed,  and  that  commonly  ascribed  to  Athanasius. 
They  acknowledged  the  same  canon  of  scripture, 
Avhich  the  church  of  England  does  in  her  sixth  article^ 
and,  w^iat  is  very  remarkable,  they  give  the  same  ac- 


437 

count  of  the  apocryphal  books,  accompanied  with  the 
same  remark  of  Jerom,  which  the  reader  will  find  in 
the  same  sixth  article.  They  say,  "  these  books  teach 
us,  that  there  is  one  God  Almighty,  wise  and  good, 
who  in  his  goodness  made  all  things.  He  created 
Adam  after  his  own  image.  But  through  the  malice 
of  the  devil  and  the  disobedience  of  Adam,  sin  en- 
tered into  the  world,  and  we  became  sinners  in  and 
by  Adam.  That  Christ  is  our  life  and  truth,  and  peace, 
knd  righteousness,  our  shepherd  and  advocate,  our 
sacrifice  and  priest,  who  died  for  the  salvation  of  all 
who  should  believe,  and  also  rose  again  for  our  justi- 
fication." 

The  confession  of  the  Bohemian  waldenses,  pub- 
lished in  the  former  part  of  the  sixteenth  century,  is 
very  explicit  on  these  articles.  They  say,  that  men 
ought  to  acknowledge  themselves  born  in  sin,  and  to 
be  burdened  with  the  weight  of  sin;  that  they  ought 
to  acknowledge,  that  for  this  depravity,  and  for  the 
sins  springing  up  from  this  root  of  bitterness,  utter 
perdition  deservedly  hangs  over  their  heads,  and  that 
all  should  own,  that  they  can  no  way  justify  themselves 
by  any  works  or  endeavours,  nor  have  any  thing  to 
trust  to,  but  Christ  alone.  They  hold,  that  by  faith  in 
Christ,  men  are,  through  mercy,  freely  justified,  and 
attain  salvation  by  Christ,  without  human  help  or  me- 
rit. They  hold,  that  all  confidence  is  to  be  fixed  in  him 
alone,  and  all  our  care  to  be  cast  upon  him;  and,  that 
for  his  sake  only  God  is  pacified,  and  adopts  us  to  be 
his  children.  They  teach  also,  that  no  man  can  have 
this  faith  by  his  own  power,  will,  or  pleasure;  that  it 
is  the  gift  of  God,  who,  where  it  pleaseth  him  worketh 
it  in  man  by  his  spirit.*  They  teach  also  the  doctrine 
of  good  works  as  fruits  and  evidences  of  a  lively  faith, 
much  in  the  same  manner  as  the  church  of  England 
does  in  her  twelfth  article,  and  more  largely  in  her  ho- 
milies.f 

The  waldenses  in  general  express  their  firm  belief, 

*  Morland,  p.  48.  +  Id.  49 

Vol.  III.  56 


438 

that  there  is  no  other  mediator  than  Jesus  Christ: 
they  speak  with  great  respect  of  the  virgin  Mary  as 
holy^  humble,  and  full  of  grace;  at  the  same  time  that 
they  totally  discountenance  that  senseless  and  extra- 
vagant adniiration,  in  which  she  had  been  held  for 
ages.  They  asserted,  that  all,  who  have  been  and  shall 
be  saved,  have  been  elected  of  God  before  the  founda- 
tion of  the  world;  and  that  whosoever  upholds  free- 
will, absolutely  denies  predestination  and  the  grace  of 
God.*  I  use  their  own  term  freewill,  not  that  I  think 
it  strictly  proper.  But  what  they- meant  by  an  upholder 
of  freewill,  is  not  hard  to  be  understood,  namely,  one, 
who  maintains  that  there  are  resources  in  the  nature  of 
man  sufficient  to  enable  him  to  live  to  God  as  he 
ought,  without  any  need  of  the  renewal  of  his  nature 
by  divine  grace. 

"  We  honour,"  say  they,  "  the  secular  powers  with 
subjection,  obedience,  promptitude,  and  payment  of 
tribute."  On  this  subject  they  are  repeatedly  explicit, 
and  mention  the  example  of  our  Lord,  "  who  refused 
not  to  pay  tribute,  not  taking  upon  himself  any  juris- 
diction of  temporal  power." 

They  give  a  practical  view  of  the  doctrine  of  the 
holy  trinity,  perfectly  agreeable  to  the  faith  of  the  or- 
thodox in  all  ages.  Let  it  suffice  to  mention  what  they 
say  of  the  Holyghost  "  We  believe,  that  he  is  our 
comforter,  proceeding  from  the  Father  and  from  the 
Son;  by  v/hose  inspiration  we  pray,  being  re- 
newed by  Him  WHO  formeth  all  good  works  with- 
in us,  and  by  Him  we  have  knowledge  of  all  truth." 
Of  the  nature  and  use  of  the  sacraments,  they  speak 
the  common  language  of  the  protestant  churches. 
The  difference,  indeed,  between  real  good  men  in  all 
ages,  even  in  point  of  sentiment,  on  fundamental 
questions,  is  much  smaller  than  what  many  believe. 
Trifling  differences  have  been  exceedingly  magnified, 
partly  through  ignorance  and  partly  through  malevo- 
lence. Through  the  course  of  this  history  the  unifor- 

*  Morland,  p.  40. 


439 

mity  of  faith,  of  inward  experience,  and  of  external 
practice,  has  appeared  in  the  different  ages  of  the 
church.  For  it  is  the  same  God,  who  v\^orketh 
ALL  IN  ALL  his  real  saints. 

It  is  remarkable  that  an  ancient  confession  of  faith, 
copied  out  of  certain  manuscripts  bearing  date  1120, 
that  is  forty  years  before  Peter  Waldo,  contains  the 
same  articles  in  substance,  and  in  many  particulars 
the  same  words,  as  those,  an  abridgment  of  which 
has^Dcen  given  already,  and  which  were  approved  of 
in  the  sixteenth  century.  The  conclusion  from  this 
fact  is,  that  though  Waldo  was  a  most  considerable 
benefactor  to  the  waldensian  churches  by  his  transla- 
tion of  the  scriptures,  his  other  writings,  his  preach- 
ing, and  his  sufferings,  he  was  not  properly  their 
founder.  Their  plan  of  doctrine  and  church  establish- 
ment, particularly  in  Piedmont,  was  of  prior  date,  nor 
can  any  other  account  of  the  existence  and  light  of  a 
church  so  pure  and  sound  in  ages  so  remarkably  cor- 
rupt be  given  than  this,  that  the  labours  of  Claudius 
of  Turin  in  the  ninth  century  had,  under  God,  pro- 
duced these  effects.  Men,  who  spend  and  are  spent 
for  the  glory  of  God,  and  for  the  profit  of  souls,  have 
no  conception  of  the  importance  of  their  efforts.  While 
the  schemes  and  toils  of  an  ambitious  conqueror  or 
an  intriguing  politician,  which,  at  the  time,  fill  the 
world  with  admiration,  do  often  vanish  like  smoke, 
the  humble  and  patient  labours  of  a  minister  of  Christ, 
though,  during  his  own  life,  derided  and  despised  by 
the  great  ones  of  the  earth,  remain  in  durable  effects 
to  succeeding  generations,  and  emancipate  thousands 
from  the  dominion  of  sin  and  Satan.  God  will  work, 
AND  WHO  SHALL  LET  IT?  In  ouc  article,  indeed, 
these  professors  of  pure  religion  seem  to  have  carried 
their  zeal  beyond  the  bounds  of  christian  discretion. 
"  We  have,"  say  they,  "  always  accounted,  as  un- 
speakable abominations  before  God,  all  those  inven- 
tions of  men,  namely,  the  feasts  and  the  vigils  of 
saints.-'  To  these  they  add  the  idolatrous  corruptions 
of  the  popedom.  They  either  did  not  know  or  did  not 


440 

consider,  that  the  anniversaries  of  the  martyrdoms  of 
primiiive  saints  were  of  very  high  antiquity,  and  were 
observed  in  the  purest  times,  even  in  the  second  cen- 
tur}'.  As  they  were  at  that  time  observed,  they  seem 
not  to  have  had  any  superstitious  alloy,  and  might  be 
productive  of  the  best  consequences,  much  less  do 
they  deserve  the  title  of  "  unspeakable  abominations." 
But  the  adoration  and  canonization  of  saints,  with  other 
practices,  v/hich  deserve  the  name  abominations,  be- 
ing incorporated  with  these  festivals,  in  the  twelfth 
and  some  preceding  centuries,  do  naturally  account 
for  the  zealous  and  unreasonable  indignation  of  these 
reformers. 

The  aTicient  catechism,  for  the  instruction  of  their 
youth,  contains  the  same  vital  truths,  in  substance, 
which  form  the  catechisms  of  protestant  churches.  I 
shall  mention  two  or  three  particulars,  which  are  most 
strikingly  peculiar. 

"  Q.  VV^herein  consists  your  salvation? 

An  s.  In  three  substantial  virtues,  which  do  necessa- 
rily belong  to  salvation. 

Q.  How  can  you  prove  that? 

Ans.  The  apostle  writes,  1  Cor.  xiii.  now  abideth 
faith,  hope,  charity,  these  three. 

Q.  What  is  feith? 

Ans.  According  to  the  apostle,  Heb.  xi.  1.  it  is  the 
substance  of  things  hoped  for,  the  evidence  of  things 
not  seen. 

Q.  How  many  sorts  of  faith  are  there? 

Ans.  There  are  two  sorts,  a  living  and  a  dead 
faith. 

Q.  What  is  a  living  faith? 

Ans.  It  is  that  which  works  by  love. 

Q.  What  is  a  dead  faith? 

Ans.  According  to  St.  James,  that  faith,  which  is 
without  works,  is  dead.  Again,  faith  is  nothing  with- 
out works.  Or,  a  dead  faith  is  to  believe  that  there  is  a 
God,  and  to  believe  those  things  which  relate  to  God, 
and  not  to  believe  in  him. 

This  last  clause  seems  happily  descriptive  of  the 


441 

point.  To  believe  in  Christ  is  by  himself  in  John  vi. 
illustrated  by  coming  to  him  or  trusting  in  him,  being 
an  exercise  of  heart  toward  Christ,  which  always 
works  by  love.  Whereas  a  bare  unoperative  assent  to 
certain  doctrinal  truths  implies  no  reception  of  Christ 
in  the  heart,  though  it  be  all  that  thousands  look  on  as 
necessary  to  constitute  a  genuine  believer.  That  the 
composers  of  this  catechism  had  in  view  this  impor- 
tant distinction  between  speculatively  believing  a  per- 
son to  exist,  and  cordially  believing  in  that  person, 
appears  from  another  question  and  answer. 

*'  Q.  Dost  thou  believe  in  the  holy  catholic  church? 

A.  No;  for  it  is  a  creature;  but  I  believe  that  there 
is  one." 

They  then  proceed  to  show  that  the  real  church  , 
consists  "  of  the  elect  of  God  from  the  beginning  to 
thf  end  of  the  world,  by  the  grace  of  God,  through 
the   merit  of  Christ,  gathered  together  by  the  holy 
Spirit,  and  foreordained  to  eternal  life.'* 

i  he  Wcildensian  churches  had  also  an  exposition  of 
the  apostle's  creed,  the  ten  commandments,  the  Lord's 
prayer,  and  the  sacraments.  So  remarkably  has  the 
Spirit  of  God,  in  all  ages,  led  the  real  church  in  a 
similar  manner,  to  provide  for  the  instruction  of  her 
children,  by  comments  on  the  most  necessary  funda- 
mentals! The  protestant  churches,  in  their  original 
construction,  all  followed  the  same  plan.  An  excess 
of  ceremonies,  and  a  burdensome  round  of  supersti- 
tions, filled  all  the  dominions  of  the  papacy,  while  here 
and  there  an  inventive  genius,  like  Peter  Abelard,  en- 
deavoured to  swell  the  minds  of  men  by  philosophical 
refinements.  In  the  mean  time  the  genuine  christians 
were  feeding  on  the  bread  of  life,  which  was  supplied 
by  the  divine  word,  and  was  communicated  through 
the  medium  of  catechetical  and  expository  tracts, 
adapted  to  the  plainest  understandings.  At  this  day  true 
christians  are  employed  in  the  same  manner;  and  a 
diligent  observer  may  distinguish  them  from  those  of 
the  superstitious  or  the  selfsufficient  cast.  In  our  times, 
indeed,  there  does  appear  one  remarkable  difference 


442 

of  circumstances  from  the  state  of  religion  in  the  thir- 
teenth century,  namely,  that  the  selfsufficient,  sceptical 
spirit  predominates  extremely  above  the  superstitious. 

I  have  examined  the  vvaldensian  expositions,  which, 
together  with  the  scripture  proofs  annexed  to  them, 
must  at  that  day  have  formed  a  very  salutary  body  of 
instruction.  But  the  numerous  modern  treatises,  which 
are  extant  on  the  same  subjects,  render  it  superfluous 
for  me  to  give  them  in  detail.  A  few  of  the  most  strik- 
ing thoughts  sliall  be  mentioned. 

It  deserves  to  be  noticed,  that  in  their  exposition  of 
the  apostles'  creed,  waldensian  reformers  give  us  the 
well  known  text  in  1  John,  v.  7.  as  a  proof  of  the  doc- 
trine of  the  trinity.  They  were,  it  seems,  perfectly 
satisfied  of  its  authenticity, 

"  The  son  of  God,  by  the  commandment  of  God 
the  father,  and  by  his  own  freewill,  was  lifted  up  upon 
the  altar  of  the  cross,  and  was  crucified,  and  hath  re- 
deemed mankind  with  his  own  blood;  which  work  being 
accomplished,  he  arose  from  the  dead  the  third  day, 
having  diff'used  through  the  world  a  light  everlasting,^ 
like  a  new  sun;  that  is,  the  glory  of  the  resurrection,  and 
of  an  heavenly  inheritance,  which  the  son  of  God  hath 
promised  to  give  to  all  those  who  serve  him  in  faith." 

Hear,  in  a  few  instances,  how  in  common  with  all 
evangelical  expositors  they  understand  the  spiritual 
meaning  of  the  commandments.  For  "  the  first  degree 
to  salvation  is  the  knowledge  of  sin;  and  therefore  ac- 
knowledging our  fault,  we  approach  with  confidence  to 
the  throne  of  grace,  and  confess  our  sins." 

"  Ail  that  love  the  creature  more  than  the  Creator, 
observe  not  the  first  commandment.  If  a  man  shall 
say,  I  cannot  tell,  whether  I  have  a  greater  love  to 
God,  or  to  that,  which  he  forbids  me  to  love,  let  him 
know  that  what  a  man  loves  least,  in  a  case  of  neces- 
sity, is  that  which  he  is  most  willing  to  lose,  and  that 
which  he  loves  the  most,  he  preserves.  Men  cast  their 
merchandize  into  the  sea,  to  preserve  their  lives;  which 
shows  that  they  love  life  more  than  property.  By  such 
rules  thou  mayest  try,  whether  thou  lovest  God  more 


445 

than  all  persons  and  things  besides,  or,  whether  thou 
art  an  idolater." 

On  the  second  commandment,  they  are  soundly 
argumentative  and  judiciously  exact,  because  of  the 
abominations,  with  which  they  were  surrounded,  and 
with  which  all  Europe  was  infected,  except  them- 
selves. 

"  In  the  third  commandment  we  are  forbidden  to 
swear  falsely,  vainly,  or  by  custom.  An  oath  acknow- 
ledgeth  that  God  knows  the  truth,  and  it  confirmeth  a 
thing  that  is  doubtful:  it  is  an  act  of  divine  service, 
and  therefore,  they  who  swear  by  the  elements,  do 
sin." 

"  Those  who  will  observe  the  sabbath  of  christians, 
that  is,  who  will  sanctify  the  day  of  the  Lord,  must  be 
careful  of  four  things.  1st.  To  cease  from  earthly  and 
worldly  labours;  2d.  to  abstain  from  sin;  3d.  not  to  be 
slothful  i/^  regard  of  good  works;  and  4th.  to  do  those 
things,  which  are  for  the  good  of  the  soul."  They 
support  their  assertion  by  the  case  of  the  sabbath 
breaker  in  the  book  of  Numbers,  who  was  stoned  to 
death. 

In  the  rest  of  the  commandments,  they  extend  the 
meaning  to  the  desires  of  the  heart,  and  vindicate  their 
interpretation  by  the  well  known  passages  in  our 
Lord's  sermon  on  the  mount.  How  could  serious  per- 
sons, who  thus  see  the  spirituality  of  the  law,  ever  find 
rest  to  their  consciences,  but  in  the  blood  of  Christ? 
and  how  common  is  it  for  selfrighteous  persons  on  the 
other  hand  to  curtail  the  demands  of  the  law,  and  make 
light  of  sin,  that  they  may  justify  themselves! 

On  the  Lord's  prayer,  in  a  very  sensible  introduc- 
tion, they  observe,  that  "  God,  who  seeth  the  secrets 
of  our  hearts,  is  more  moved  by  a  deep  groan  or  sigh, 
with  complaints  and  tears  that  come  from  the  heart, 
than  by  a  thousand  words."  In  opposition  to  the  for- 
mal rounds  of  repetition  at  that  time  so  fashionable, 
they  say,  "  there  is  no  man  who  can  keep  his  mind 
attentive  to  prayer  a  whole  day  or  a  whole  night  toge- 
ther, except  God  give  the  special  assistance  of  his 


444 

grace.  God  hath  therefore. appointed  to  his  servants 
other  exercises,  sometimes  in  one  way,  sometimes  iti 
another,  which  are  to  be  performed  for  the  good  of 
themselves  or  of  their  neighbours,  with  their  hearts 
lifted  up  to  God."  "  To  pray  much  is  to  be  fervent 
in  prayer."  "  No  prayer  can  be  pleasing  to  God, 
which  refers  not  some  way  or  other  to  the  Lord's 
prayer.  Every  christian  ought  to  apply  himself  to  un- 
derstand and  learn  it." 

There  is  among  the  records  of  this  people  a  very 
ancient  confession  of  sin,  which  was  commonly  used, 
and  which  shows  that  they  taught  every  person  to 
apply  to  himself  that  hideous  picture  of  human  depra- 
vity, which  St.  Paul  delineates,*  "  that  every  mouth 
may  be  stopped,  and  all  the  world  become  guilty  be- 
fore God."  If  no  more  could  be  said  for  this  people, 
than  that  they  hated  the  gross  abominations  of  popery, 
and  condemned  the  vices  of  the  generality  of  mankind, 
they  might  have  been  ostentatious  pharisees,  or  self- 
sufficient  socinians.  But  though,  no  doubt,  there  were 
unsound  professors  among  them  as  among  all  other 
bodies  of  christians,  yet,  in  their  community,  there 
were  a  number  of  real  christians,  who  knew  how  to 
direct  the  edge  of  their  severity  against  the  *'  sins  that 
dwelled  in  them,"  and  who,  being  truly  humbled  un- 
der a  piercing  sight  of  native  depravity,  betook  them- 
selves wholly  to  the  grace  of  God  in  Christ  for  salva- 
tion. Hear  how  they  speak.  "  Excuse  myself  I  cannot; 
for  thou,  O  Lord,  hast  showed  me  both  what  is  good 
and  evil.  I  have  understood  thy  power;  I  have  not 
been  ignorant  of  thy  wisdom;  I  have  known  thy  jus- 
tice; and  have  tasted  of  thy  goodness.  Yet  all  the  evil, 
which  I  do,  proceeds  from  my  own  depravity.  I  have 
committed  many  evils  from  the  beginning  of  my  life; 
covetousness  is  rooted  in  my  heart;  I  love  avarice,  I 
seek  after  applause,  and  bear  little  love  to  those,  who 
have  obliged  me  by  their  kindness.  If  thou  do  not 
pardon  me,  my  soul  must  go  down  to  perdition.  An- 

»Rom.iii.  10.— 20. 


445 

ger  likewise  reigns  in  my  heart,  and  envy  gnaws  me; 
for  I  am  naturally  without  charity.  I  am  slow  to  do 
good,  but  industrious  to  do  evil.  I  have  blinded  my- 
self, and  have  had  many  evil  thoughts  against  thee.  I 
have  cast  mine  eyes  on  vain  delights,  and  have  sel- 
dom lifted  them  up  to  thy  face.  I  have  lent  an  ear  to 
empty  sounds,  and  to  many  evil  speakings;  but  to  hear 
and  understand  thy  laws  hath  been  grievous  and  irk- 
some to  me.  I  have  taken  more  pleasure  in  the  noi- 
some sink  of  sin,  than  in  divine  sweetness;  I  have  even, 
worshipped  sin;  I  have  endeavoured  to  conceal  my 
own  guilt,  and  to  lay  it  upon  another.  My  mind  and 
body  are  wounded;  my  heart  hath  been  delighted  with 
evil  things;  with  many  foolish  and  unprofitable  objects. 
I  have  turned  aside  into  bypaths,  and,  by  my  levity, 
have  given  an  ill  example  to  others.  I  have  slandered 
my  neighbour,  and  have  loved  him  only,  because  of 
my  temporal  interest." 

There  is  not,  in  any  age,  a  truly  humble  and  seri- 
ous christian,  who  will  not  acknowledge  himself  guil- 
ty in  all  these  respects  before  God,  even  though  his 
conduct  has,  comparatively  speaking,  been  blameless 
before  men.  It  is  the  want  of  selfknowledge,  which 
keeps  men  ignorant  of  their  ill  desert  before  God; 
and,  in  truth,  nothing  is  so  much  unknown  to  men  in 
general  as  the  propensity  of  their  own  hearts.  This 
knowledge,  however,  was  found  among  the  waldenses; 
and  hence  they  were  an  humble  people,  prepared  to 
receive  the  gospel  of  Christ  from  the  heart,  to  walk  in 
his  steps  to  carry  his  cross,  and  to  fear  sin  above  all 
other  evils. 

Some  ancient  inquisitorial  memoirs  describing  the 
manners  and  customs  of  this  people,  speak  to  this 
effect:  "kneeling  on  their  knees,  they  continue  in 
prayers  with  silence,  so  long  as  a  man  may  say  thirt} 
or  forty  pater  nosters.  This  they  do  daily  with  great 
reverence,  when  they  have  no  strangers  with  them, 
both  before  dinner  and  after;  likev\  ise  before  supper 
and  after,  and  when  they  retire  to  rest,  and  in  the 
morning.  Before  thev  go  to  meat,  the  elder  among: 
Vol.  m.  '    '     57 


446 

them  says,  God  Avho  blessed  the  five  barley  loaves  and 
two  fishes  before  his  disciples  in  the  wilderness,  bless 
this  table  and  that  which  is  set  upon  it,  in  the  name  of 
the  Father,  the  Son,  and  the  Holyghost.  And  after 
meat,  he  says,  the  God  which  has  given  us  corporal 
food,  grant  us  his  spiritual  life,  and  may  God  be  with 
us,  and  we  always  with  him.  After  their  meals,  they 
teach  and  exhort  one  another." 

Reinerius,  their  adversary,  declares,  "that  a  cer- 
tain heretical  waldensian,  with  a  view  of  turning  a 
person  from  the  catholic  faith,  swam  over  a  river  in 
the  night  and  in  the  winter,  to  come  to  him  and  teach 
him." 

Hear  what  a  character  an  ancient  inquisitor  gives 
of  this  people:  "  Heretics  are  known  by  their  man- 
ners and  words;  for  they  are  orderly  and  modest  in 
their  manners  and  behaviour.  They  avoid  all  appear- 
ance of  pride  in  their  dress,  they  neither  wear  rich 
clothes,  nor  are  they  too  mean  and  ragged  in  their  at- 
tire. They  avoid  commerce,  that  they  may  be  free 
from  falsehood  and  deceit:  they  live  by  manual  indus- 
try, as  day  labourers  or  mechanics;  and  their  preach- 
ers are  weavers  and  taylors.  They  seek  not  to  amass 
wealth,  but  are  content  with  the  necessaries  of  life. 
They  are  chaste,  temperate,  and  sober;  they  abstain 
from  anger.  They  hypocritically  go  to  the  church,  con- 
fess, communicate,  and  hear  sermons,  to  catch  the 
preacher  in  his  words.  Their  women  are  modest,  avoid 
slander,  foolish  jesting,  and  levity  of  words,  especially 
falsehood  and  oaths.  "^^ 

Their  directions  to  pastors  in  visiting  the  sick  are 
full  of  evangelical  simplicity.  The  afflicted  person  is 
exhorted  to  look  to  Christ  as  the  great  pattern  of  pa- 
tient sufferers,  "  who  is  the  true  Son  of  God,  and  yet 
hath  been  more  afflicted  than  we  all,  and  more  tor- 
mented than  any  other.  Let  the  sick  man  consider 
with  himself,  that  he  is  grievously  afflicted  as  his  Sa- 
viour was,  when  he  suffered  for  us;  for  which  the  man 

'  Altix,  F-  235. 


447 

ought  to  yield  thanks  to  God,  because  it  hath  pleased 
him  to  give  this  good  Saviour  to  death  for  us,  and  at 
the  same  time  to  beg  mercy  at  his  hands  in  the  name 
of  Jesus.  And  we  christians  ouglit  to  have  a  perfect 
■  confidence  and  assurance,  that  our  Father  will  forgive 
us  for  his  goodness  sake.  Let  the  sick  person  commit 
himself  wholly  to  the  Lord.  Let  him  do  to  his  neigh- 
bour, as  he  would  have  his  neighbour  do  to  him, 
making  such  arrangements  among  his  relations,  that 
he  may  leave  them  in  peace,  and  that  there  may  be  no 
suits  or  contentions  after  his  death.  Let  him  hope  for 
salvation  in  Jesus  Christ,  and  not  in  any  other,  or  l\v 
any  other  thing,  acknowledging  himself  a  miserable 
sinner,  that  he  may  ask  mercy  of  God,  finding  himself 
in  such  a  manner  culpable,  that  of  himself  he  deserv- 
eth  eternal  death.  If  the  pastor  find  the  sick  person 
alarmed  and  terrified  with  the  sense  of  the  divine  dis- 
pleasure against  sinners,  let  him  remind  the  distressed 
soul  of  those  comfortable  promises  which  our  Saviour 
hath  made  to  all  those,  who  come  to  him,  and  who, 
from  the  bottom  of  their  heart,  call  upon  him;  and 
how  God  the  father  hath  promised  forgiveness,  when- 
soever we  shall  ask  it  in  the  name  of  his  Son.  These 
are  the  things,  in  which  the  true  preacher  of  the  word 
ought  faithfully  to  employ  himself,  that  he  may  con- 
duct the  party  visited  to  his  Saviour. 

And  whereas,  in  former  times,  it  hath  been  the  cus- 
tom to  cause  the  disconsolate  widow  to  spend  much 
money  on  singers  and  ringers,  and  on  persons  who  eat 
and  drink,  while  she  weeps  and  fasts,  wronging  her 
fatherless  children;  it  is  our  duty,  from  motives  of 
compassion,  to  the  end  that  one  loss  be  not  added  to 
another,  to  aid  them  with  our  counsel  and  our  goods, 
according  to  the  ability  which  God  hath  bestowed  on 
us,  taking  care  that  the  children  be  well  instructed, 
that  they  may  labour  to  maintain  themselves,  as  God 
hath  ordained,  and  live  like  christians." 

The  directions,  which  the}'  gave  to  new  converts, 
were,  to  study  the  epistolary  instructions  of  St.  Paul, 
that  they  might  know  how  to  walk  in  such  a  manner 


448 

as  not  to  give  occasion  of  falling  to  their  neighbours, 
-and,  that  they  might  not  make  the  house  of  the  Lord 
a  den  of  thieves. 

They  were  zealous  in  directing  the  education  of 
children.  "  Despair  not,"  say  they,  "  of  thy  child,  when 
he  is  unwilling  to  receive  correction,  or,  if  he  prove 
not  speedily  good;  for  the  labourer  gathereth  not  the 
fruits  of  the  earth,  as  soon  as  the  seed  is  sown,  but  he 
waits  till  the  due  season.  A  man  ought  to  have  a 
careful  e3'e  over  his  daughters.  Keep  them  within, 
and  see  they  wander  not.  For  Dinah  the  daughter  of 
Jacob  was  corrupted  by  being  seen  of  strangers." 

In  ecclesiastical  correction,  they  were  directed  by 
our  Lord's  rule,  in  first  reproving  a  brother  in  private; 
secondly,  in  the  presence  of  two  or  three  brethren; 
and,  last  of  all,  and  not  till  other  methods  failed,  in 
proceeding  to  excommunication.  Private  correction, 
they  observe,  is  sufficient  for  faults  not  made  known 
to  many;  but,  in  the  case  of  open  sins,  they  followed 
the  apostolical  rule,  *  Them,  that  sin,  rebuke  before 
all,  that  others  may  fear.  "  Marriages  are  to  be  made 
according  to  the  degrees  of  kindred  permitted  by  God. 
The  pope's  dispensations  are  of  no  value,  nor  deserve 
the  least  regard.  The  band  of  holy  matrimony  must 
not  be  made  without  the  consent  of  the  parents  of 
both  parties;  for  children  belong  to  their  parents." 

Against  the  disorders  of  taverns,  and  the  mischiefs 
of  dancing  they  are  exceedingly  severe.  Remark  one 
sentence;  "  They,  who  deck  and  adorn  their  daugh- 
ters, are  like  those,  who  put  dry  wood  to  the  fire,  to 
the  end  that  it  may  burn  the  better.  A  tavern  is  the 
fountain  of  sin,  and  the  school  of  Satan."  For  con- 
versing with  those,  that  are  without,  they  give  rules, 
full  of  christian  simplicity;  and  they  direct  their  peo- 
ple also  in  christian  morals  after  a  style  and  manner 
much  superior  to  the  spirit  and  taste  of  the  thirteenth 
Century.  Their  rules  of  ecclesiastical  correction  and 
excommunication  were  drawn  from  the  new  testament. 

*  1  Tim.  t  20. 


449 

Private  faults  were  to  be  censured  privately,  public 
faults  before  the  congregation;  and,  in  case  of  incorri- 
gibleness,  they  proceeded  to  excommunication.* 

It  may  be  proper  to  observe  here,  that  Sir  Samuel 
Morland,  in  his  history  of  the  evangelical  churches  of 
the  valleys  of  Piedmont,  bears  the  strongest  testimony 
to  the  truth  of  Perrin's  narrative.  He  gives  us  the 
attestation  of  Tronchin,  the  chief  minister  of  Geneva, 
which  attestation,  he  tells  us,  is,  together  with  other 
original  papers,  in  the  public  library  of  the  universit}" 
of  Cambridge.  The  substance  of  the  attestation  itself 
is,  that  Tronchin  declares,  that  Perrin  coming  to 
Geneva  to  print  his  history,  communicated  to  him  his 
work,  and  divers  original  manuscripts,  from  which  he 
(Perrin)  had  extracted  the  ancient  doctrine  and  disci- 
pline of  the  waldenses,  which  manuscripts  Tronchin 
then  saw  and  perused.  Tronchin's  testimony  is  dated 
in  1656.  We  have  here  the  united  testimony  of  Per- 
rin, Tronchin,  and  Morland,  to  the  authenticity  of  the 
history  before  us.  And  it  appears  that  the  same  Tron- 
chin, at  the  distance  of  thirt3'^-cight  years,  correspond- 
ed both  with  Perrin  and  Morland.  There  is  also  a 
book  concerning  antichrist  in  an  old  manuscript, 
which  contains  many  sermons  of  the  pastors;  it  is 
dated  1120,  and  therefore  was  written  before  the  time 
of  Waldo.  The  existence,  therefore,  of  these  churches 
is  still  farther  proved  to  have  taken  place  before  the 
days  of  that  reformer.  The  treatise  concerning  anti- 
christ was  preserved  by  the  waldenses  of  the  Alps; 
and  a  brief  summary  of  it  is  as  follows.  "  He  is  called 
antichrist,  because,  being  covered  and  adorned  under 
the  colour  of  Christ  and  his  church,  he  opposes  the 
salvation  purchased  by  Christ,  of  which  the  faithful 
are  partakers  by  faith,  hope,  and  charity.  He  contra- 
dicts the  truth  by  the  wisdom  of  the  world,  and  by 
counterfeit  holiness.  To  make  up  a  complete  system 
of  religious  hopocrisy,  all  these  things  must  concur, 
there  must  be  worldly  wise  men,  there  must  be  relr- 

*  Morland,  p.  86. 


450 

gious  orders,  pharisees,  ministers,  doctors,  the  secular 
power,  and  lovers  of  this  world.  Antichrist,  indeed, 
was  conceived  in  the  apostle's  times,  but  he  was  in 
his  infancy,  unformed  and  imperfect.  He  was  there- 
fore the  more  easily  known  and  ejected,  being  rude, 
raw,  and  wanting  utterance.  He  had  then  no  skill  in 
making  decretals,  he  wanted  hypocritical  ministers, 
and  the  show  of  religious  orders.  He  had  none  of  those, 
riches,  by  which  he  might  allure  ministers  to  his  ser- 
vice, and  multiply  his  adherents:  he  wanted  also  the 
secular  power,  and  could  not  compel  men  to  serve 
him.  But  he  grew  to  a  full  age,  when  the  lovers  of  the 
world,  both  in  church  and  state,  did  multiply  and  get 
all  the  power  into  their  hands:  Christ  had  never  any 
enemy  like  to  this,  so  able  to  pervert  the  way  of  truth 
into  ft\lsehood,  insomuch  that  the  church  with  her  true 
children  is  trodden  under  foot.  He  robs  Christ  of  his 
merits,  of  justification,  regeneration,  sanctification,  and 
spiritual ,  nourishment,  and  ascribes  the  same  to  his 
own  authority,  to  a  form  of  words,  to  his  own  works, 
to  saints,  and  to  the  fire  of  purgatory.  Yet  he  has  some 
decent  qualities,  which  throw  a  veil  over  his  enormi- 
ties; such  as  an  external  profession  of  Christianity,  tra- 
dition, and  catalogues  of  episcopal  succession,  lying 
wonders,  external  sanctity,  and  certain  sayings  of 
Christ  himself,  the  administration  of  the  sacraments, 
verbal  preaching  against  vices,  and  the  virtuous  lives  of 
some,  who  really  live  to  God  in  Babylon,  whom,  how- 
ever, antichrist,  so  far  as  in  him  lies,  prevents  from 
placing  all  their  hope  in  Christ  alone.  These  things  are 
a  cloak,  with  which  antichrist  hides  his  wickedness, 
that  he  may  not  be  rejected  as  a  pagan.  Knowing  these 
things,  we  depart  from  antichrist,  according  to  express 
scriptural  directions.  We  unite  ourselves  to  the  truth 
of  Christ  and  his  spouse,  how  small  soever  she  appear. 
We  describe  the  causes  of  our  separation*  from  anti- 


'  Hence  it  appears,  that,  in  1120,  there  were  a  body  of  the  waldenses, 
who  had  perfectly  separated  from  the  Roman  cliurch.  Yet,  it  is  evident 
from  Bernard's  account,  that  those,  of  whom  he  had  some  knowledge. 
Mere  not  separatists.  This  may  be  one  instance  of  their  differences  among 


451 

Christ,  that  if  the  Lord  be  pleased  to  impart  the  know- 
ledge of  the  same  truth  to  others,  those,  who  receive  it, 
together  with  us  may  love  it.  But,  if  they  be  not  suffi- 
ciently enlightened,  they  may  receive  help  by  our  mi- 
nistry, and  be  washed  by  the  spirit.  If  any  one  have  re- 
ceived more  abundantly  than  we  ourselves,  we  desire  the 
more  humbly  to  be  taught,  and  to  amend  our  defects.  A 
various  and  endless  idolatry  marks  the  genius  of  anti- 
christ, and  he  teaches  men  by  that  to  seek  for  grace, 
which  is  essentially  in  God  alone,  exists  meritoriously  in 
Christ,  and  is  communicated  by  faith  alone  through  the 
holy  Spirit."  They  then  proceed  to  confute  distinctly 
the  various  abominations  of  popery,  on  which  points  it 
is,  at  this  day,  unnecessary  to  enlarge.  Suffice  it  to  say, 
that  to  see  and  argue  as  they  did  in  that  dark  age,  re- 
quired a  light  and  strength  of  judgment,  of  which  we 
can  now  scarcely  form  an  idea.  It  is  more  to  my  pur- 
pose to  mention  some  testimonies  of  the  offices  of 
Christ,  which  are  interwoven  in  their  arguments. 
**  He  is  our  advocate:  he  forgives  sins.  He  presents 
himself  in  some  measure  to  us,  before  we  bestir  our- 
selves. He  knocks,  that  we  should  open  to  him:  and, 
to  obstruct  all  occasions  of  idolatry,  he  sits  at  the 
right  hand  of  the  Father  in  heaven,  and  desires,  that 
every  faithful  soul  should  have  recourse  to  him  alone. 
For  all  the  care  of  the  faithful  should  be  directed  to- 
ward Christ,  imitating  him  that  is  above.  He  is  the 
gate:  whosoever  entereth  by  him  shall  be  saved.  He 

themselves,  of  which  Evervinns  speaks.  And  it  is  very  conceivable,  that 
men  equally  sincere,  mit^ht  not  be,  for  a  time,  unanimous  in  this  point. 
The  dread  of  schism  on  tlie  one  hand,  and  of  idolatrous  contagion  on  the 
other,  would  each  aflbrd  no  contemptible  argument  on  botli  sides  of  the 
question.  The  albigenses,  however,  a  bianch  of  the  waldenses,  in  the 
year  1200  were  so  exceedingly  ni>mcrous,  that  they  then  formed  a  distinct 
church,  and  were  openly  separated  from  the  whole  romlsli  system.  In 
truth,  though  it  seems  to  have  been  the  fault  of  some  protestant  historians 
to  give  t(30  early  a  date  to  tiie  reign  of  anticlirist,  and,  on  that  account,  to 
condemn  unjustly  several  romlsh  pastors,  wliom  I  have  attempted  to  vin- 
dicate, yet  the  man  of  sin  doubtless  did  appear,  at  length,  In  all  that  enor- 
mity, which  the  most  vehement  of  the  protestant  writer.s  have  described. 
Therefore  it  became  absolutely  necessary  for  real  christians  to  de])aift 
from  Babylon.  The  several  bodies  of  the  waldenses  did  so,  tliougli,  I 
think  successively  and  gradually.  TJiey  are  properly  the  first  of  the  pro- 
testant churches. 


452 

alone  hath  the  prerogative,  to  obtain  whatever  he  re- 
quests in  behalf  of  mankind,  whom  he  hath  reconciled 
by  his  death.  To  what  purpose  should  we  address  our- 
selves to  any  other  saint  as  mediator,  seeing  he  himself 
is  far  more  charitable  and  far  more  ready  to  succour 
us  than  any  of  them?" 

There  is  also  a  short  treatise  on  tribulation,  a  sub- 
ject highly  needful  to  be  studied  by  all  christians,  by 
those  more  particularly,  who,  like  the  waldenses,  lived 
in  the  flames  of  persecution. 

The  Noble  Lesson,  written  in  the  year  1 100,  has  al- 
ready, in  part,  been  given  to  the  reader,  and  it  closes 
the  account  of  waldensian  monuments,  collected  by 
Perry  of  Lyons. 

Some  of  the  thoughts,  which  I  have  transcribed 
from  this  author,  on  account  of  their  extreme  simpli- 
city, may  appear  almost  childish  to  persons,  whose 
taste  has  been  formed  purely  by  modern  models  and 
maxims;  and  it  must  be  confessed,  that  we  discover 
no  persons  of  superior  capacity  or  uncommon  genius 
among  this  people.  Their  means  of  knowledge  were 
ordinary,  their  situation  confined,  and  their  circum- 
stances perhaps  universally  poor.  Even  so  Father, 
FOR  £0  IT  SEEMED  GOOD  IN  THY  SIGHT.*  The  ex- 
cellency of  the  power  was  therefore  of  God  and  not  of 
man.  How  happened  it,  that  they  should  possess  so 
sound  a  portion  of  evangelical  truth,  so  ably  and  judi- 
ciously confute  established  errors,  so  boldly  maintain 
the  truth  as  it  is  in  Jesus,  so  patiently  suffer  for  it,  live 
so  singularly  distinct  from  the  world,  and  so  nobly 
superior  to  all  around  them;  while  princes,  dignitaries, 
universities,  and  all,  that  w^as  looked  on  as  great, 
splendid,  and  wise  among  men,  wandered  in  miserable 
darkness?  It  was  of  the  Lord,  who  is  wonderful  in 
council  and  excellent  in  work;  and  his  preservation  of 
a  godly  seed  in  the  earth,  in  such  circumstances,  is  a 
pledge  tliat  he  never  will  forsake  his  church,  and  that 
rhe  gates  of  hell  shall  never  prevail  against  it. 

'   I, like  X.21. 


453 

We  have  seen  the  most  satisfactory  proofs  of  the 
genuine  apostolical  doctrine,  connected  with  holy  prac- 
tice by  the  influence  of  the  holy  Spirit,  as  subsisting 
among  this  people.  At  the  reformation,  some  funda- 
mental doctrines,  particularly  that  of  original  sin,  and 
of  justification  by  faith  in  Christ,  were  indeed  more 
distinctly  and  explicitly  unfolded.  But  every  candid 
and  intelligent  reader  has  seen  that  these,  with  all 
other  fundamental  truths,  were  understood  and  con- 
fessed by  the  waldenses.  The  principal  defect  of  these 
records  is,  that  invectives  against  antichrist  and  its 
abominations  make  up  too  large  a  proportion  of  their 
catechetical  instructions;  and  the  general  vital  truths 
of  the  gospel  are  not  so  m\ich  enlarged  on  as  the  rea- 
der, who  seeks  edification,  would  wish.  How  far  this 
defect  might  be  less  obvious,  or  even  disappear,  could 
we  see  the  many  sermons  of  their  pastors,  I  know  not. 
But  these  churches  were  in  perpetual  trouble  and 
danger;  and  their  distressed  circumstances  form,  in 
some  measure,  an  apology  for  the  imperfection  of  their 
writings. 


CHAP.  IV. 

The  Persecutions  of  the  Waldenses. 

X  HIS  is  the  only  subject  relating  to  the  waldenses, 
which  has  not  passed  under  our  review.  Their  exter- 
nal history  is,  indeed,  little  else  than  a  series  of  perse- 
cution. And  I  regret,  that  while  wc  have  some  large  and 
distinct  details  of  the  cruelties  of  their  persecutors,  we 
have  very  scanty  accounts  of  the  spirit,  with  which 
they  sufiered;  and  still  less  of  the  internal  exercises  of 
holiness,  which  are  known  only  to  the  people  of  God. 
But  this  is  not  the  first  occasion,  which  we  have  had 
to  lament,  concerning  the  manner  in  which  church 
history  has  been  transmitted  to  us. 

In  1162,  two  years  after  Waldo  had  begun  to  preach 

Vol.  III.  58 


454 

the  gospel  in  Lyons,  Lewis  VIL  of  France,  and  Henry 
IL  of  England,  on  foot,  holding  the  bridle  of  the  horse 
of  pope  Alexander  IIL  walking  one  on  one  side  of 
him,  the  other  on  the  other,  conducted  him  to  his 
habitation;  exhibiting,  says  Baronius,*  a  spectacle 
most  grateful  to  God,  to  angels,  and  to  men!  For  the 
princes  of  the  earth,  as  well  as  the  meanest  persons, 
were  now  enslaved  to  the  popedom,  and  were  easily 
led  to  persecute  the  children  of  God  with  the  most 
savage  barbarity.  We  are  astonished  in  reading  the 
details  of  persecution.  That,  which  raged  against  the 
waldenses  in  the  former  part  of  the  thirteenth  centu- 
ry, was  indeed  an  assemblage  of  every  thing  cruel, 
perfidious,  indecent,  and  detestable.  But  we  are  not 
to  imagine,  that  contemporaries  beheld  such  scenes 
with  the  same  horror  with  which  we  do:  the  "  god  of 
this  world,"  with  consummate  dexterity,  infatuates 
his  slaves,  by  a  successive  variety  of  wickedness, 
adapted  to  circumstances.  The  scenes  of  villany, 
meanness,  indecency,  hypocrisy,  and  barbarity,  which, 
for  several  years,  have  been  carrying  on  in  France, 
under  the  mask  of  philosophy,  liberty,  and  rationality, 
have  found,  in  our  own  country,  many  defenders,  or 
at  least  apologists.  The  reason  is,  that  irreligious  scep- 
ticism or  atheistic  profaneness  is  the  darling  of  these 
times,  as  superstition  was  that  of  the  thirteenth  cen- 
tury. And,  if  men  will  not  learn  the  all  important  les- 
son, namely,  to  obey  the  divine  oracles,  there  seems 
no  end  of  the  deceits  by  which  the  prince  of  darkness 
will  impose  on  mankind. 

In  1176  some  of  the  waldenses,  called  heretics, 
being  examined  by  the  bishops  were  convicted  of  he- 
resy. They  were  said  to  receive  only  the  new  testa- 
ment, and  to  reject  the  old,  except  in  the  testimonies 
quoted  by  our  Lord  and  the  apostles,  f  This  charge 
is  confuted  by  the  whole  tenor  of  their  authentic  wri- 
tings, in  which  they  quote  the  old  testament  authority 
as  divine,  without  reserve  or  hesitation.  Being  inter- 

*  Baronius  Annals,  cent.  xii.  f  Baron,  cent,  xii 


455 

rogated  concerning  their  faith,  we  are  told,  that  they 
said,  "  we  are  not  bound  to  answer."  Other  accusa- 
tions against  them  were  as  follow,  namely,  that  they 
asserted  the  truth  of  the  manichean  doctrine  of  two 
independent  principles,  that  they  denied  the  utility  of 
infant  baptism,  and  that  the  Lord's  body  was  made 
by  the  consecration  of  an  unworthy  priest,  that  un- 
faithful ministers  had  any  right  to  the  exercise  of 
ecclesiastical  power,  or  to  titles  and  first  fruits,  or  that 
the  faithful  ought  to  attend  their  pastoral  services,  or 
that  auricular  confession  was  necessary,  or  that  oaths 
were  in  any  case  lawful.  The  reader,  who  has  atten- 
tively considered  the  foregoing  accounts  of  the  wal- 
denses,  will  know  how  to  separate  the  falsehood  from 
the  truth  contained  in  these  charges.  "  All  these 
things,"  says  Baronius,  "  the  wretched  men  asserted, 
that  they  learned  from  the  gospels  and  epistles,  and  that 
they  would  receive  nothing,  except  what  they  found 
expressly  contained  there,  thus  rejecting  the  interpre- 
tation of  the  doctors,  though  they  themselves  were 
perfectly  illiterate.  They  were  confuted,"  he  adds, 
"  at  a  conference  before  the  bishop  of  Albi,  from  the 
new  testament,  which  alone  they  admitted;  and,  they 
professed  the  catholic  faith,  but  would  not  swear,  and 
were  therefore  condemned." 

From  this  account,  however  imperfect,  and  in  se- 
veral instances,  palpably  injurious,  some  farther  light 
may  be  collected  oF  the  state  of  the  waldenses  at  that 
time. 

In  1178,  the  same  Lewis  and  Henry,  who  had  six- 
teen years  before,  in  so  unkingly  a  manner,  given  their 
*'  power  and  strength  to  die  beast,"*  hearing  that  the 
albigenses  grew  in  numbers,  determined  to  attack 
them  by  the  sword,  but  afterwards  thought  it  more 
prudent  to  employ  preachers. f  They  sent  to  them 

*  Rev.  -Rvu.  lo. 

f  Baron,  cent  xii. 

It  is  evident,  that  the  term  Albigenses,  or  ratlier  Albienses,  employed 
by  our  author,  was  taken  from  tlie  town  ot"  Albi,  where  the  waklenses 
flourished.  And,  indeed,  tlirough  the  dominions  of  Raymond,  earl  of 
Toulouse,  and  tiirough  the  south  of  France,  including  the  territories  of 


456 

several  bishops  and  ecclesiastics;  and  they  employed 
Raymond  of  Toulouse  and  other  noblemen  to  expel 
the  refractory.  The  commissioners  arriving  at  Tou- 
louse, exacted,  by  an  oath,  of  the  catholics  there,  that 
they  should  give  information  of  the  heretics  whom 
they  knew.  Great  numbers  were  hence  discovered. 
Among  these  was  a  rich  old  man  called  Peter  Mora- 
nus,  who  had  pretended  to  be  John  the  evangelist.* 
This  person,  denying  the  bread  to  be  the  body  of 
Christ,  was  condemned:  his  goods  were  confiscated: 
his  castles,  the  conventicles  of  heretics,  were  thrown 
down.  Peter  abjured  his  heresy,  and  was  brought  na- 
ked and  barefoot  into  the  church  before  all  the  people; 
the  bishop  of  Toulouse  and  a  certain  abbot  beating 
him  on  each  side  from  the  entrance  of  the  building  to 
the  steps  of  the  altar,  where  the  cardinal  legate  cele- 
brated mass.  There,  being  reconciled  to  the  church, 
he  again  abjured  his  heresy,  anathematized  heretics, 
and  submitted  to  another  penance,  which  was  this, 
namely,  after  forty  days  to  leave  his  country,  to  serve 
the  poor  at  Jerusalem  three  years;  and,  during  the 
forty  days,  each  Sunday  to  go  round  the  churches  of 
Toulouse  naked  and  barefoot,  disciplined  by  rods,  and 
to  make  various  restitutions.  It  was  ordered,  however, 
that  if  he  should  return  after  three  years  from  Jerusa- 
lem, then  the  rest  of  his  property,  till  that  time  held 
in  sequestration,  should  be  restored  to  him.  Many 
others  abjured  their  heresies,  but  some  refusing  to 
take  the  oaths  of  subjection  were  excommunicated, 
with  candles  publicly  lighted;  and  princes  were  order- 
ed to  expel  them  from  their  dominions.  Roger,  prince 
of  the  Albiensian  diocese,  was  excommunicated. 

The  account  of  our  English  historian  Hovedenf  is 
similar  to  this  of  Baronius.  It  is  remarkable,  that  the 
former  calls  the  doctrine  of  the  albigenses  the  ariau 

Avignon,  their  doctrines,  at  that  time,  spread  with  vast  rapidity.  All 
these  were  called  in  general  Albigenses,  and,  in  doctrine  and  manners, 
were  not  at  all  distinct  from  the  waldenses. 

*  It  should  be  recollected,  that  this  is  the  account  given  by  Baronius, 
a  very  determined  enemy  of  the  waldenses. 

i  P.  327. 


457 

heresy.  But  arian  or  manichee,  or  any  other  term  of 
reproach  Sufficiently  answers  the  design  of  determined 
persecutors.  It  seemed  proper  to  give  the  account  of 
the  barbarous  treatment  of  the  rich  old  gentleman  of 
Toulouse,  who,  though  he  recanted,  was  punished, 
because  it  confirms  the  truth  of  Perrin's  narrative  of 
the  like  persecutions,  and  demonstrates,  from  the  tes- 
timony even  of  Roman  writers,  that  the  horrors  of 
papal  tyranny  have  not  been  misrepresented  in  gene- 
ral by  protestant  authors.  And,  on  this  occasion,  I 
cannot  but  disapprove  of  the  rashness  or  the  preju- 
dices of  an  able  historian,  who  has  already  fallen  under 
our  notice.^  He  says,  that  the  albigenses,  being  exa- 
mined, denied  the  manichean  doctrine  of  the  two  prin- 
ciples, though  charged  on  that  account  with  falsehood 
by  their  enemies:  and  this  author  believes  these  same 
enemies,  who  gave  no  proof  of  sincerity,  that  we  know 
of,  and  accuses  the  albigenses  of  dissimulation,  though 
such  numbers  of  them  were  suffering  continually  for 
their  principles.  The  man,  who  undertakes  to  be  an 
historian,  ought  to  be  acquainted  with  the  writings 
and  evidences,  which  are  produced  on  both  sides  of  a 
controverted  subject,  so  far  as  materials  can  be  pro- 
cured. If  the  author  before  us  had  read  with  the  least 
attention  the  waldensian  records,  he  would  never  have 
asserted  that  the  waldenses  were  legitimate  descend- 
ants of  the  sect  of  Manes. 

The  subjects  of  Raymond,  earl  of  Toulouse,  and 
of  some  other  great  personages  in  his  neighbourhood, 
so  generally  professed  the  waldensian  doctrines,  that 
they  became  the  peculiar  object  of  papal  vengeance. 
The  inhabitants  of  Toulouse,  Carcassone,  Bcziers, 
Narbonne,  Avignon,  and  many  other  cities,  who  were 
commonly  called  the  albigenses,  were  exposed  to  a 
persecution  as  cruel  and  atrocious  as  any  recorded  in 
history.  Rainerius,  indeed,  owns,  that  the  waldenses 
were  the  most  formidable  enemies  of  the  church  of 
Rome,  "  because,"  saith  he,  *'  they  have  a  great  ap- 

*  Berington's  Hist,  of  Henry  II.  p.  305. 


458 

pearance  of  godliness;  because  they  live  righteously 
before  men,  believe  rightly  of  God  in  all  things,  and 
hold  all  the  articles  of  the  creed;  yet,  they  hate  and 
revile  the  church  of  Rome;  and,  in  their  accusations 
they  are  easily  believed  by  the  people." 

It  was  reserved  to  Innocent  the  third,  than  whom 
no  pope  ever  possessed  more  ambition,  to  institute 
the  inquisition;  and  the  waldenses  were  the  first  ob« 
jects  of  its  cruelt}'.  He  authorized  certain  monks  to 
frame  the  process  of  that  court,  and  to  deliver  the 
supposed  heretics  to  the  secular  power.  The  begin- 
ning of  the  thirteenth  century  saw  thousands  of  per- 
sons hanged  or  burned  by  these  diabolical  devices, 
whose  sole  crime  was,  that  they  trusted  only  in  Jesus 
Christ  for  salvation,  and  renounced  all  the  vain  hopes 
of  selfrighteous  idolatry  and  superstition.  Whoever 
has  attended  closely  to  the  subjects  of  the  two  epistles 
to  the  Colossians  and  the  Galatians,  and  has  penetra- 
ted the  meaning  of  the  apostle,  sees  the  great  duty  of 
HOLDING  THE  HEAD,  and  of  resting  for  justification 
by  faith  on  Jesus  Christ  alone,  inculcated  throughout 
them  as  the  predominant  precept  of  Christianity,  in 
opposition  to  the  rudiments  of  the  world,  to  philoso- 
phy and  vain  deceit,  to  will  worship,  to  all  dependence 
for  our  happiness  on  human  works  and  devices  of 
whatever  kind.  Such  a  person  sees  what  is  genuine 
protestantism,  as  contrasted  to  genuine  popery;  and, 
of  course,  he  is  convinced,  that  the  difference  is  not 
merely  verbal  or  frivolous,  but  that  there  is  a  perfect 
opposition  in  the  two  plans;  and  such  as  admits  of  no 
coalition  or  union;  and  that  therefore  the  true  way  of 
withstanding  the  devices  of  Satan,  is  to  be  faithful  to 
the  great  doctrine  of  justification  by  the  grace  of  Jesus 
Christ,  through  faith  alone,  and  not  by  our  own  works 
or  deservings.*  Hence  the  very  foundation  of  false 
religion  is  overthrown;  hence  troubled  consciences 
obtain  solid  peace:  and,  faith,  working  by  love,  leads 
men  into  the  very  spirit  of  Christianity,  while  it  com- 

*  Eleventh  Article  of  Religion. 


459 

forts  their  hearts,  and  stablishes  them  in  ever}'  good 
work. 

Schemes  of  religion  so  extremely  opposite,  being 
ardently  pursued  by  both  parties,  could  not  fail  to 
produce  a  violent  rupture.  In  fact,  the  church  of  Christ 
and  the  world  were  seen  engaged  in  contest.  Innocent, 
however,  first  tried  the  methods  of  argument  and  per- 
suasion. He  sent  bishops  and  monks,  who  preached 
in  those  places,  where  the  waldensian  doctrine  flour- 
ished. But  their  success  was  very  inconsiderable.  In 
the  neighbourhood  of  Narbonne  two  monks  were  em- 
ployed, Peter  de  Chateauneuf,  and  Dominic*  The 
former  of  these  was  certainly  murdered;  and,  it  seems 
probable,  by  Raymond,  count  of  Toulouse,  because 
he  had  refused  to  remove  the  excommunication,  which 
he  had  denounced  against  that  prince.  Raymond  him- 
self strongly  protected  his  waldensian  subjects,  though 
there  seems  no  evidence  that  he  either  understood  or 
felt  the  vital  influence  of  the  protestant  doctrines.  But 
he  was  provoked  at  the  im.perious  and  turbulent  mea- 
sures of  the  monk,  and  saw  the  extreme  injustice  of 
the  papal  domination.  He  was  also  a  witness  of  the 
purity  of  life  and  manners  of  his  own  subjects,  and 
heard  with  indignation  the  calumnies  with  which  they 
were  aspersed  by  their  adversaries,  who  proclaimed  to 
all  the  world  their  own  hypocrisy,  avarice,  and  ambi- 
tion. Incensed  at  these  proceedings,  Raymond  seems 
to  have  taken  a  very  unjustifiable  method  of  extrica- 
ting himself  from  the  distresses  to  which  the  papal 
tyranny  exposed  him.  But  the  event  was  disastrous; 
Innocent  obtained  what  he  wished,  namely,  a  decent 
pretence  for  his  horrible  and  most  iniquitous  persecu- 
tion; and  thousands  of  godly  souls  were  unrighteously 
calumniated  as  accessory  to  the  crime. 

I  need  not  dwell  on  the  insidious  customs  of  the 
inquisition:  they  are  but  too  well  known.  From  the 
year  1206,  when  it  was  first  established,  to  the  year 

*  This  is  the  famous  founder  of  the  tlorninicans,  of  whom  I  shall  speak 
more  distinctly  in  a  separate  article,  and  show  how  far  the  censures  of 
Perrin  concerning  him,  as  aiitlur  of  rlic  inquisition,  are  founded  in.  fact. 


460 

1228,  the  havock  made  among  helpless  christians  was 
so  great,  that  certain  French  bishops,  in  the  last  men- 
tioned year,  desired  the  monks  of  the  inquisition  to 
defer  a  little  their  work  of  imprisonment,  till  the  pope 
was  advertised  of  the  great  numbers  apprehended; 
numbers  so  great,  that  it  was  impossible  to  defray  the 
charge  of  their  subsistence,  and  even  to  provide  stone 
and  mortar  to  build  prisons  for  i'hem.  Yet  so  true  is 
it,  that  the  blood  of  the  martyrs  is  the  seed  of  the 
church,  that  in  the  year  1530  there  were  in  Europe 
above  eight  hundred  thousand  who  professed  the  re- 
ligion of  the  waldenses. 

When  the  albigenses  saw  that  the  design  of  the 
pope  was  to  gain  the  reputation  of  having  used  gentle 
and  reasonable  methods  of  persuasion,  they  agreed 
among  themselves,  to  undertake  the  open  defence  of 
their  principles.  They  therefore  gave  the  bishops  to 
understand,  that  their  pastors,  or  some  of  them  in  the 
name  of  the  rest,  were  ready  to  prove  their  religion  to 
be  truly  scriptural  in  an  open  conference,  provided  the 
conference  might  be  conducted  with  propriety.  They 
explained  their  ideas  of  propriety  by  desiring,  that 
there  might  be  moderators  on  both  sides,  who  should 
be  vested  with  full  authority  to  prevent  all  tumult  and 
violence;  that  the  conference  should  be  held  in  some 
place,  to  which  all  parties  concerned  might  have  free 
and  safe  access;  and,  moreover,  that  some  one  sub- 
ject should  be  chosen,  with  the  common  consent  of 
the  disputants,  which  should  be  steadily  prosecuted, 
till  it  was  fully  discussed  and  determined;  and  that  he, 
who  could  not  maintain  it  by  the  word  of  God,  the 
only  decisive  rule  of  christians,  should  own  himself  to 
be  confuted. 

All  this  was  something  more  than  specious:  it  was 
perfectly  equitable  and  unexceptionably  judicious;  so 
much  so,  that  the  bishops  and  monks  could  not  with 
decency  refuse  to  accept  the  terms.  The  place  of 
conference  agreed  upon  was  Montreal  near  Carcas- 
sone,  in  the  year  1206.  The  umpires  on  the  one  side 


461 

were  the  bishops  of  Villeneuse  and  Auxerre;  on  the 
other,  R.  de  Bot,  and  Anthony  Riviere. 

Several  pastors  were  deputed  to  manage  the  debate 
for  the  albigenses,  of  whom  Arnold  Hot  was  the  prin- 
cipal. He  arrived  first  at  the  time  and  place  appointed, 
A  bishop  named  Eusus,  came  afterwards  on  the  side 
of  the  papacy,  accompanied  by  the  monk  Dominic, 
two  of  the  pope's  legates,  and  several  other  priests  and 
monks.  The  points  undertaken  to  be  proved  by  Ar- 
nold, vi'ere,  that  the  mass  and  transubstantiation  were 
idolatrous  and  un scriptural;  that  tl\e  church  of  Rome 
was  not  the  spouse  of  Christ,  and  that  its  polity  was 
bad  and  unholy.  Arnold  sent  these  propositions  to  the 
bishop,  who  required  fifteen  days  to  answer  him, 
which  was  granted.  At  the  day  appointed,  the  bishop 
appeared,  bringing  with  him  a  large  manuscript,  which 
was  read  in  the  conference.  Arnold  desired  to  be 
heard  by  word  of  mouth,  only  intreating  their  pati- 
ence, if  he  took  a  considerable  time  in  answering  so 
prolix  a  writing.  Fair  promises  of  a  patient  hearing 
were  granted  him.  He  discoursed  for  the  space  of  four 
days  with  great  fluency  and  readiness,  and  with  such 
order,  perspicuity,  and  strength  of  argument,  that  a 
powerfid  impression  was  made  on  the  audience. 

At  length  Arnold  desired,  that  the  bishops  and 
monks  would  undertake  to  vindicate  the  mass  and 
transubstantiation  by  the  word  of  God.  What  they 
said  on  the  occasion  we  are  not  told;  but  the  cause  of 
the  abrupt  conclusion  of  the  conference,  a  matter  of 
fact  allowed  on  all  sides,  showed  which  party  had  the 
advantage  in  argument.  While  the  two  legates  were 
disputing  with  Arnold  at  Montreal,  and  at  the  same 
time  several  other  conferences  were  held  in  different 
places,  the  bishop  of  Villeneuse,  the  umpire  of  the 
papal  party,  declared,  that  nothing  could  be  deter- 
mined, because  of  the  coming  of  the  crusaders.  What 
he  asserted  was  too  true:  the  papal  armies  advanced, 
and,  by  fire  and  faggot,  soon  decided  all  controversies. 
If  the  conferences  had  been  continued,  an  historian  of 
the  real  church  might  have  had  much  to  relate.  As 

Vol.  hi.  59 


462 

the  matter  stands,  he  must  withdraw:  it  is  the  business 
of  the  secular  historian  to  relate  the  military  achieve- 
ments: some  circumstances,  however,  which  tend  to 
illustrate  the  merit  and  conduct  of  the  church  of 
Christ,  must  be  the  objects  of  our  attention. 

Arnold  and  his  assistants  were,  doubtless,  of  the 
number  of  those,  who  "  did  truth,  and  therefore  came 
to  the  light,  that  their  deeds  might  be  made  manifest, 
that  they  were  wrought  in  God."  And  their  adversa- 
ries were  of  those,  who  hated  the  light,  and  would 
not  come  to  the  light,  lest  their  deeds  should  be  re- 
proved."* Amidst  the  darkness  and  uncertainty  in 
which,  independently  of  revelation,  every  fundamen- 
tal truth  of  salvation  must  be  involved,  in  a  world 
like  this,  and  among  creatures  so  depraved  as  man- 
kind, a  readiness  to  abide  by  the  decisions  of  the  di- 
vine oracles,  or  an  unwillingness  to  stand  the  test  of 
scripture,  demonstrates  who  are  right  and  who  are 
wrong.  In  all  ages  this  has  appeared  to  be  the  case; 
but  we  seldom  meet  with  so  striking  an  instance  as 
this  which  we  have  reviewed.  "  In  the  sacrifice  of 
the  mass,  it  was  commonly  said,  that  the  priest  did 
offer  Christ  for  the  quick  and  the  dead,  to  have  re- 
mission of  pain  or  guilt."  This  the  church  of  Eng- 
land f  calls  a  "  blasphemous  fable  and  a  dangerous 
deceit,"  asserting  that  "  there  is  none  other  satisfac- 
tion for  sin,  but  the  offering  of  Christ  once  made  for 
all  the  sins  of  the  whole  world."  This  was  one  ques- 
tion in  the  controversy  between  the  two  parties, 
for  the  decision  of  which  the  scriptures  were  surely 
very  competent.  The  recourse,  which  the  popish 
party  had  to  arms,  in  the  room  of  sober  argumenta- 
tion, what  was  it  but  to  pour  contempt  on  the  word  of 
God  itself,  and  to  confess  that  its  light  was  intolerably 
offensive  to  them?  The  approach  of  the  crusaders, 
who,  in  the  manner  related,  put  an  end  to  the  confe- 
rence, was  not  accidental;  for  Innocent,  who  never 
intended  to  decide  the  controversy  by  argument,  on 

*  John,  iii.  |  Article  xxxi. 


463 

occasion  of  the  unhappy  murder  of  the  monk  before 
mentioned,  had  despatched  preachers  throughout  Eu- 
rope, to  collect  all,  who  were  willing  to  revenge  the 
innocent  blood  of  Peter  of  Chateauneuf;  promising  pa- 
radise to  those,  who  should  bear  arms  for  forty  days, 
and  bestowing  on  them  the  same  indulgences  as  he  did 
on  those,  who  undertook  to  conquer  the  holy  land. 
*'  We,  moreover,  promise,"  says  he  in  his  bull,  "  to 
all  those  who  shall  take  up  arms  to  revenge  the  said 
murder,  the  pardon  and  remission  of  their  sins.  And 
since,  we  are  not  to  keep  faith  with  those,  who  do  not 
keep  it  with  God,  we  would  have  all  to  understand, 
that  every  person,  who  is  bound  to  the  said  earl  Ray- 
mond by  oath  of  allegiance,  or  by  any  other  way,  is 
absolved  by  apostolical  authority  from  such  obliga- 
tions; and  it  is  lawful  for  any  roman  catholic,  to  per- 
secute the  said  earl,  and  to  seize  upon  his  country," 
&c. 

Who  is  this,  that  forgiveth  sins,  except  God  only? 
and,  who  is  this,  that  also  dispenses  with  the  most 
solemn  moral  obligations?  Is  he  not  antichrist,  show- 
ing himself  that  he  is  God?  On  this,  and  some  other 
occasions,  I  choose  to  give  the  very  expressions  of  the 
papal  bulls,  as  a  sufficient  confutation  of  the  sophisms, 
by  which  some  modern  writers  have  endeavoured  to 
palliate  or  do  away  the  crimes  of  the  popedom.  The 
language,  indeed,  of  our  early  protestant  writers, 
against  popery  is  severe  beyond  measure;  but  it  hardly 
could  be  equal  to  the  desert  of  those  whom  they  op- 
posed. The  most  material  error  of  the  modern  pro- 
testants,  as  I  have  before  observed,  on  these  subjects, 
seems  to  be,  that  they  have  been  too  hasty  in  fixing 
the  date  of  the  man  of  sin.  But  after  he  really  ap- 
peared in  the  horrors  of  his  maturity,  he  was  all, 
which  the  most  impassioned  declaimer  can  say  against 
him. 

The  tyrant  proceeds  in  his  bull:  "  we  exhort  you, 
that  you  would  endeavour  to  destroy  the  wicked 
heresy  of  the  albigenses,  and  do  this  with  more  rigor 
than  you  would  use  towards  the  Saracens  themselves: 


^  464 

persecute  them  with  a  strong  hand:  deprive  them  of 
their  lands  and  possessions:  banish  them,  and  put  ro- 
man  catholics  in  their  room."  Such  Avas  the  pope's 
method  of  punishing  a  whole  people  for  a  single  mur- 
der committed  by  Raymond.  Philip  Augustus,  king 
of  France,  was  at  that  time  too  much  engaged  in  wars 
with  Otho  the  emperor,  and  John  king  of  England,  to 
enter  upon  the  crusades.  But  the  French  barons,  in- 
cited by  the  motives  of  avarice,  which  Innocent  sug- 
gested, undertook  the  work  with  vigor. 

Raymond  of  Toulouse  was  now  struck  with  terror. 
Political  motives  had  fixed  him  with  the  protestant 
party,  because  his  subjects  and  neighbours  were  very 
commonly  on  that  side.  But  he  himself  seems  to  have 
wanted  a  divine  principle  of  faith  to  animate  his  mind 
in  the  defence  of  the  righteous  cause.  The  other 
princes,  his  neighbours,  seem  equally  as  destitute  as 
he  was  of  the  spirit  of  genuine  religion.  They  might 
have  resisted  their  enemies  very  vigorously  by  the 
aid  of  their  subjects,  whose  loyalty  was  unalterably 
firm,  and  who  knew  it  was  a  religious  duty  to  be 
fiiithful  to  their  temporal  sovereigns.  In  those  feudal 
times,  Raymond,  rather  than  Philip,  was  sovereign  of 
the  people  of  Toulouse:  the  spririt  of  the  protestants 
was  strong  and  powerful;  and  even  the  romanists, 
who  were  mixed  with  them,  w^re  perfectly  disposed 
to  unite  in  the  common  defence.  But  I  find  not  in  all 
the  account  of  the  war  a  single  instance  of  a  prince  or 
leader,  who  was  faithful  to  the  cause  of  God  as  such. 
No  wonder  then  that  the  chiefs  sunk  under  the  load 
of  oppression,  and  suffered  themselves,  repeatedly,  to 
be  the  dupes  of  Roman  perfidy.  The  christians  had 
then  no  other  part  to  act,  after  having  discharged  the 
duty  of  faithful  subjects  and  soldiers,  but  to  suffer 
with  patience  the  oppressions  of  antichrist. 

Three  hundred  thousand  pilgrims,  induced  by  the 
united  motives  of  avarice  and  superstition,  filled  the 
country  of  the  albigenses  with  carnage  and  confusion 
for  a  number  of  years.  The  reader,  who  is  not  versed 
in  history  of  this  kind,   can  scarcely  conceive  the 


465 

scenes  of  baseness,  perfidy,  barbarity,  indecency,  and 
hypocrisy,  over  which  Innocent  presided;  and  which 
were  conduced,  partly  by  his  legates,  and  partly  by  the 
infamous  earl  Simon  of  Montfort.  But  let  it  suffice  to 
have  said  this  in  general:  it  is  more  to  our  purpose 
to  observe  the  spirit  of  the  people  of  God  in  these 
grievous  tribulations.  The  castle  of  Menerbe  on  the 
frontiers  of  Spain,  for  want  of  water,  was  reduced  to 
the  necessity  of  surrendering  to  the  pope's  legate.  A 
certain  abbot  undertook  to  preach  to  those  who  were 
found  in  the  castle,  and  to  exhort  them  to  acknow- 
ledge the  pope.  But  they  interrupted  his  discourse, 
declaring  that  his  labour  was  to  no  purpose.  Earl 
Simon  and  the  legate  then  caused  a  great  fire  to  be 
kindled,  and  they  burned  a  hundred  and  forty  persons 
of  both  sexes.  These  martyrs  died  in  triumph,  prais- 
ing God  that  he  had  counted  them  worthy  to  suffer 
for  the  sake  of  Christ.  They  opposed  the  legate  to 
his  face,  and  told  Simon,  that  on  the  last  day  when 
the  books  should  be  opened,  he  would  meet  with  the 
just  judgment  of  God  for  all  his  cruelties.  Several 
monks  entreated  them  to  have  pity  on  themselves, 
and  promised  them  their  lives,  if  they  would  submit 
to  the  popedom.  But  the  christians  "  loved  not  their 
lives  to  the  death:"*  only  three  women  of  the  com- 
pany recanted. 

Another  castle,  named  Termes,  not  far  from  Me- 
nerbe, in  the  territory  of  Narbonne,  was  taken  by  Si- 
mon in  the  year  1210.  "  This  place,"  said  Simon, 
*'  is  of  all  others  the  most  execrable,  because  no  mass 
has  been  sung  in  it  for  thirty  yeai's."  A  remark,  which 
gives  us  som.e  idea  both  of  the  stability  and  numbers 
of  the  waldenses:  the  very  worship  of  popery,  it 
seems,  was  expelled  from  this  place.  The  inhabitants 
made  their  escape  by  night,  and  avoided  the  merciless 
hands  of  Simon. 

A  single  act  of  humanity,  exercised  toward  several 
women  by  this  general,  on  the  principles  of  chivalry, 

*  Rev.  xii.  7. 


466 

whose  persons  he  preserved  from  military  insult  and 
outrage,  is  the  only  one  of  the  kind  recorded  of  him. 

But  the  triumphing  of  the  wicked  is  short:  after 
he  had  been  declared  sovereign  of  Toulouse,  which 
he  had  conquered,  general  of  the  armies  of  the  church, 
its  son,  and  its  darling;  after  he  had  oppressed  and 
tyrannized  over  the  albigenses  by  innumerable  con- 
fiscations and  exactions,  he  was  slain  in  battle  in  the 
year  1218. 

Earl  Raymond,  whose  life  had  been  a  scene  of  great 
calamity,  died  of  sickness  in  the  year  1222,  in  a  state 
of  peace  and  prosperity,  after  his  victory  over  Simon. 
We  are  told,  that,  though  political  and  humane  mo- 
tives at  first  alone  influenced  his  conduct,  he  at  length 
saw  the  falsity  of  the  popish  doctrine.  No  man,  surely, 
was  ever  treated  with  more  injustice  by  the  pope- 
dom. But  I  know  no  evidence  of  his  religious  know- 
ledge and  piety.  His  persecutor  Innocent  died  in  1216; 
and  the  famous  Dominic,  who,  according  to  the  as- 
sertion of  our  author  Perrin,  was  active  in  the  inquisi- 
tion, and  was  accustomed  to  the  destruction  which 
Simon  had  begun  by  arms,  died  in  the  year  1220. 

Amalric  of  Montfort,  the  son  of  Simon,  wearied  out 
with  the  war,  resigned  to  Lewis  VIII.  the  son  and  suc- 
cessor of  Philip,  all  his  possessions  and  pretensions 
in  the  country  of  the  albigenses;  in  recompense  of 
which,  the  French  king  made  him  constable  of  France 
in  the  year  1224.  This  was  the  step,  which  proved 
the  ruin  of  the  albigenses.  The  French  monarchy 
was  now  interested  in  their  destruction;  and,  though 
Lewis  VIII.  died  soon  after,  and  Lewis  IX.  his  son 
and  successor  was  a  minor,  yet  the  capacity  of  the 
regent,  the  queen  mother,  was  found  equal  to  the 
work  of  aggrandizing  the  crown  at  the  expense  of 
the  albigenses.  Raymond,  the  heir  of  his  father's  mi- 
series, was  treated  with  the  most  merciless  barbaritv; 
and,  after  a  series  of  sufferings,  he  died  of  a  fever  at 
Milan. 

Alphonsus,  brother  of  Lewis  IX.  was  put  into  pos- 
session of  the  earldom  of  Toulouse.  Joan,  the  only 


467 

daughter  of  the  late  earl  Raymond,  had  been  deli- 
vered, when  only  nine  years  old,  to  the  French  court, 
that  she  might,  when  of  age,  be  married  to  Alphon- 
sus.  Thus  secular  and  ecclesiastical  ambition  united 
to  oppress  the  churches  of  Christ.  The  monk  Raine- 
rius,  whom  we  have  had  occasion  repeatedly  to  quote, 
acted  as  inquisitor  in  the  year  1250.  There  is  evi- 
dence of  the  extreme  violence  of  persecution  continu- 
ed, against  the  Albigenses  now  altogether  defenceless, 
to  the  year  1281.  Long  before  this,  in  the  year  1229, 
a  council  was  held  at  Toulouse,  one  of  the  canons  of 
which  was,  that  the  laity  were  not  allowed  to  have  the 
old  or  new  testament  in  the  vulgar  tongue,  except  a 
psalter,  or  the  like;  and  it  forbade  men  even  to  trans- 
late the  scriptures. 

This  is  the  first  instance  in  the  popedom  which  I 
meet  with,  of  a  direct  prohibition  of  the  books  of  scrip- 
ture to  the  laity.  Indirectly  the  same  thing  had  long 
been  practised.  What  an  honour  was  this  canon  to  the 
cause  of  the  albigenses!  What  a  confession  of  guilt 
on  the  side  of  the  romanists!  The  people  of  God  were 
thus,  at  length,  for  the  most  part,  exterminated  in 
Toulouse,  and  found  no  other  resource  but,  by  patient 
continuance  in  welldoing,  to  commit  themselves  to 
their  God  and  Saviour.  Antichrist,  for  the  present, 
was  visibly  triumphant  in  the  southwest  parts  of 
France,  and  the  witnesses  "  clothed  in  sackcloth," 
there  consoled  themselves  with  the  hope  of  heavenly 
rest,  being  deprived  of  all  prospect,  of  earthly  enjoy- 
ments. 

It  may  not  be  improper  to  mention  here,  that  our 
famous  monkish  historian,  Matthew  Paris,  relates,  that 
the  albigenses  set  up  a  person  named  Bartholomew  for 
pope,  who  resided  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Toulouse, 
consecrated  bishops,  and  governed  their  churches;  and 
that  in  one  battle  the  albigenses  lost  a  hundred  thou- 
sand men  with  all  their  bishops. 

These  stories  easily  confute  themselves,  nor  is  it 
necessary  to  observe,  that  the  ignorance  of  M.  Paris, 
in  French  history,  is  palpably  glaring.  The  only  use. 


468 

which  I  would  make  of  this  fiction  is  to  shoAv,  how 
unsafe  it  is  to  rely  on  rumours  published,  concerning 
subjects  which  affect  the  passions  of  mankind,  by  per- 
sons who  live  in  places  very  distant  from  the  scene  of 
action;  and  to  guard  the  minds  of  those  among  our- 
selves, who  hear  stories  concerning  professors  of  god- 
liness, propagated  by  men,  who  are  unacquainted  with 
the  grounds  of  religious  controversy. 

Dauphiny  is  a  province  of  France,  which  was  very 
full  of  the  waldenses,  who  inhabited  valleys  on  both 
sides  of  the  Alps.  On  the  Italian  side  the  valley  of 
Pragela  in  particular  had,  in  our  author's  time,  in  1618, 
six  churches,  each  having  its  pastor,  and  every  pastor 
having  the  care  of  several  villages,  which  appertained 
to  his  church.  The  oldest  people  in  them,  Perrin  ob- 
serves, never  remembered  to  have  heard  mass  sung 
in  their  country.  The  valley  itself  was  one  of  the  most 
secure  retreats  of  the  waldenses,  being  environed  on 
all  sides  with  mountains,  into  whose  caverns  the  peo- 
ple were  accustomed  to  retreat  in  time  of  persecution. 
Vignaux,  one  of  their  preachers,  used  to  admire  the 
integrity  of  the  people,  whom  no  dangers  whatever 
could  seduce  from  the  faith  of  their  ancestors.  Their 
children  were  catechised  with  the  minutest  care;  and 
their  pastors  not  only  exhorted  them  on  the  sabbaths, 
but  also  on  the  week  days  went  to  their  hamlets  to  in- 
struct  them.  With  much  inconvenience  to  themselves 
these  teachers  climbed  the  steepest  mountains  to  visit 
their  flocks.  The  word  of  God  was  heard  with  rever- 
ence: the  voice  of  prayer  was  common  in'  private 
houses,  as  well  as  in  the  churches:  christian  simplicity 
and  zeal  abounded;  and  plain  useful  learning  was  dili- 
gently cultivated  in  the  schools. 

A  monk  inquisitor  named  Francis  Borelli,  in  the 
year  1380,  armed  with  a  bull  of  Clement  VII.  under- 
took to  persecute  this  godly  people.  In  the  space  of 
thirteen  years,  he  delivered  a  hundred  and  fifty  persons 
to  the  secular  power  to  be  burned  at  Grenoble.  In  the 
valley  of  Fraissiniere  and  the  neighbourhood,  he  ap- 
prehended eighty  persons  who  also  were  burned.  The 


469 

monks  inquisitors  adjudged  one  moiet}^  of  the  goods 
of  the  persons  condemned  to  themselves,  the  rest  to 
the  temporal  lords.  What  efforts  may  not  be  expec- 
ted, when  avarice,  malice,  and  superstition  unite  in 
,the  same  cause? 

About  the  year  1400,  the  persecutors  attacked  the 
waldenses  of  the  valley  of  Pragela.  The  poor  people 
seeing  their  caves  possessed  by  their  enemies,  who 
assaulted  them  during  the  severity  of  the  winter,  re- 
treated to  one  of  the  highest  mountains  of  the  Alps, 
the  mothers  carrying  cradles,  and  leading  by  the  hand 
those  little  children,  who  were  able  to  walk.  Many  of 
them  were  murdered,  others  were  starved  to  death: 
a  hundred  and  eighty  children  were  found  dead  in 
their  cradles,  and  the  greatest  part  of  their  mothers 
died  soon  after  them.  But  why  should  I  relate  all  the 
particulars  of  such  a  scene  of  infernal  barbarity? 

In  1460,  those  of  the  valley  of  Fraissiniere  were 
persecuted  by  a  monk  of  the  order  of  Friar  Minors, 
or  Franciscans,  armed  with  the  authority  of  the  arch- 
bishop of  Ambrun.  And  it  appears  from  documents 
preserved  till  the  time  of  Perrin,  that  every  method, 
which  fraud  and  calumny  could  invent,  was  practised 
against  them. 

In  the  valley  of  Loyse,  four  hundred  little  children 
were  found  suffocated  in  their  cradles,  or  in  the  arms 
of  their  deceased  mothers,  in  consequence  of  a  great 
quantity  of  wood  being  placed  at  the  entrance  of  the 
caves  and  set  on  fire.  On  the  whole,  above  three  thou- 
sand persons  belonging  to  the  valley  were  destroyed, 
and  this  righteous  people  were  in  that  place  extermi- 
nated. The  waldenses  of  Pragela  and  Fraissiniere, 
alarmed  by  these  sanguinary  proceedings,  made  pro- 
vision for  their  own  safety,  and  expected  the  enemy 
at  the  passage  and  narrow  straits  of  their  valleys,  and 
were  in  fact  so  well  prepared  to  receive  them,  that  the 
invaders  were  obliged  to  retreat.  Some  attempts  were 
made  afterwards  by  the  waldenses  in  Fraissiniere  to 
regain  their  property,  which  had  been  unjustly  seized 
by  their  persecutors.  The  favour  of  Lewis  XII.  of 

Vol.  IIL  60 


470 

France,  was  exerted  toward  them;  yet  they  could  never 
obtain  any  remedy. 

In  Piedmont  the  archbishops  of  Turin  assiduously 
laboured  to  molest  the  waldenses,  having  been  inform- 
ed by  the  priests  in  those  valleys,  that  the  people  made 
no  offerings  for  the  dead,  valued  not  masses  and  abso- 
lutions, and  took  no  care  to  redeem  their  relations 
from  the  pains  of  purgatory.  The  love  of  lucre,  no 
doubt,  had  a  principal  share  in  promoting  the  perse- 
cutions; for  the  sums  collected  from  the  people,  by 
the  means  of  these  and  similar  vanities,  were  immense. 
The  princes  of  Piedmont,  however,  who  were  the 
dukes  of  Savoy,  were  very  unwilling  to  disturb  their 
subjects,  of  whose  loyalty,  peaceableness,  industry, 
and  probity  they  received  such  uniform  testimony.  A 
fact,  which  seemed  peculiarly  to  demonstrate  their 
general  innocence  must  be  noticed;  their  neighbours 
particularly  prized  a  Piedmontese  servant,  and  pre- 
ferred the  women  of  the  valleys  above  all  others,  to 
nurse  their  children.  Calumny,  however,  prevailed  at 
length;  and  such  a  number  of  accusations  against  them 
appeared,  charging  them  with  crimes  of  the  most 
monstrous  nature,  that  the  civil  power  permitted  the 
papal  to  indulge  its  thirst  for  blood.  Dreadful  cruel- 
ties were  inflicted  on  the  people  of  God;  and  these, 
by  their  constancy,  revived  the  memory  of  the  primi- 
tive martyrs.  Among  them  Catelin  Girard  was  distin- 
guished, who,  standing  on  the  block,  on  which  he  was 
to  be  burned  at  Revel  in  the  marquisate  of  Saluces, 
requested  his  executioners  to  give  him  two  stones: 
which  request  being  with  difficulty  obtained,  the  mar- 
tyr holding  them  in  his  hands,  said,  when  I  have  eaten 
these  stones,  then  you  shall  see  an  end  of  that  religion, 
for  which  ye  put  me  to  death,  and  then  he  cast  the 
stones  on  the  ground. 

The  fires  continued  to  be  kindled  till  the  year  1488, 
when  the  method  of  military  violence  was  adopted  by 
the  persecutors.  Albert  de  Capitaneis,  archdeacon  of 
Cremona,  was  deputed  by  pope  Innocent  VIII.  to  as- 
sault the  sufferers  with  the  sword.  Eighteen  thousand 


471 

soldiers  were  raised  for  the  ser^'ice,  besides  many  of 
the  Piedmontese  papists,  who  ran  to  the  plunder  from 
all  parts.  But  the  waldenses,  armed  with  wooden  tar- 
gets and  crossbows,  and  availing  themselves  of  the 
natural  advantages  of  their  situation,  repulsed  their 
enemies;  the  women  and  children  on  their  knees  in- 
treating  the  Lord  to  protect  his  people,  during  the 
engagement. 

Philip,  duke  of  Savoy,  had  the  candor  to  distinguish 
the  spirit  of  resistance  made  by  his  subjects  in  this 
transaction,  from  a  spirit  of  sedition  and  turbulence, 
being  convinced  that  they  had  ever  been  a  loyal  and 
obedient  people.  He  accepted,  therefore,  their  apolo- 
gy, and  forgave  them  what  was  past.  But  having  been 
informed,  that  their  young  children  were  born  with 
black  throats;  that  they  were  hairy,  and  had  four  rows 
of  teeth,  he  ordered  some  of  them  to  be  brought  be- 
fore him  to  Pignerol;  where,  having  convinced  himself 
by  ocular  demonstration,  that  the  waldenses  were  not 
monsters,  he  determined  to  protect  them  from  the 
jiersecution.  But  he  seems  not  to  have  had  sufficient 
power  to  execute  his  good  intentions.  The  papal  in- 
quisitors daily  endeavoured  to  apprehend  these  sincere 
followers  of  Christ,  and  the  persecution  lasted  till  the 
year  1532.  Then  it  was  that  the  Piedmontese  began 
openly  to  perform  divine  worship  in  their  churches. 
This  provoked  the  civil  power,  at  length,  against  them 
to  such  a  degree,  that  it  concurred  more  vigorously 
with  the  papal  measures  of  military  violence. 

The  waldenses,  however,  defended  themselves  with 
courage  and  success:  the  priests  left  the  country:  the 
mass  was  expelled  from  Piedmont;  and,  whereas  the 
people  had  hitherto  only  the  new  testament  and  some 
books  of  the  old  translated  into  the  waldensian  tongue, 
they  now  sent  the  whole  bible  to  the  press;  for,  till 
1535,  they  had  only  manuscripts,  and  those  few  in 
number.  They  procured,  at  Neufchatcl  in  Switzer- 
land, a  printed  bible  from  one,  who  published  the  first 
impression  of  the  word  of  God  which  was  seen  in 
France.  They  endeavoured  to  provide  themselves  also 


with  religious  books  from  Geneva,  but  their  nicbsen- 
ger  was  apprehended  and  put  to  deatli. 

The  persecutions  were  continued  against  this  peo- 
ple by  Francis  I.  king  of  France,  with  savage  bar- 
barity; and,  in  particular,  Jeft'ery,  who  was  burned  in  the 
castleyard  at  Turin,  by  his  piety,  meekness,  and  con- 
stancy made  a  strong  impression  on  the  minds  of  many. 

It  would  be  uninteresting  to  pursue  circumstantially 
the  story  of  the  persecutions,  which  continued  with 
more  or  less  violence  till  the  end  of  the  sixteenth  cen- 
tury, when  Bartholomew  Copin  of  the  valley  of  Lu- 
cerne, being  at  Ast  in  Piedmont  with  merchandise  for 
the  fair,  was  apprehended  for  uttering  some  words 
against  the  papacy.  The  man  bore  his  sufferings  with 
much  firmness  and  constancy,  and  resisted  various 
attempts  of  the  monks  to  overcome  his  spirit.  He 
wrote  to  his  wife,  professing  his  entire  dependence  on 
the  grace  of  Jesus  Christ  for  his  salvation.  But  he 
died  in  prison,  not  without  suspicion  of  having  being 
strang-led.  After  his  death  his  bodv  was  burned  in  the 
fire. 

The  christian  rules  of  submission  to  governments, 
and  the  practice  of  the  waldenses  in  general,  were  at 
no  great  variance.  Yet,  it  is  certahi,  that  the  primitive 
christians  would  have  conscientiously  refused  to  bear 
arms  at  all  against  their  own  sovereigns,  however 
tyrannical  and  oppressive  they  might  be.  Whether, 
in  some  instances,  these  persecuted  christians  of  the 
valleys  did  not  violate  the  apostolical  precepts  on  this 
subject,*  is  not  very  easy  to  be  decided,  because  it 
,  requires  a  very  minute  acquaintance  with  their  parti- 
cular circumstances,  to  determine  who  was  their  sove- 
reign. Sometimes  they  Mere  under  the  king  of  France; 
at  other  times  under  the  duke  of  Savoy;  and,  it  is  not 
to  be  doubted,  but  that,  at  all  times,  they  had  a  right 
to  resist  the  pope  as  a  foreign  enemy,  and  an  enemy 
of  uncommon  ambition,  injustice,  and  cruelty. 

At  the  end  of  the  sixteenth  century,  in  consequence 

'^  Rom.  xiii.  1  Pet.  ii- 


'       473 

of  some  exchange  made  by  virtue  of  a  treaty  between 
Henry  IV.  of  France  and  the  duke  of  Savoy,  the  wal- 
denses  of  the  marquisate  of  Saluces  lost  the  privileges, 
which  they  had  enjoyed  under  the  French  govern- 
ment; and,  by  the  oppression  of  their  new  sovereign 
of  Savoy,  through  the  importunity  of  the  pope,  were 
obliged  to  fly  into  France  for  segurity.  Some  of  them, 
from  the  love  of  the  w^orld,  renounced  the  faith;  but 
the  greatest  part  preferred  exile  with  a  good  consci- 
ence, to  an  enjoyment  of  their  native  country.  On  this 
occasion  they  declared,  in  a  'well  written  manifesto, 
their  spirit  of  loyalty  and  peaceableness,  the  hardships 
of  their  case,  and  their  perfect  agreement  in  principle 
with  all  the  reformed  churches.  So  certain  is  it,  that 
the  waldenses  were,  in  every  substantial  article,  genu- 
ine protestants  and  witnessess  of  evangelical  truth. 

A  number  of  waldenses,  who  resided  in  the  Alps, 
possessed  several  villages,  and,  in  particular,  the  cit} 
of  Barcelonette.  These,  being  persecuted  by  the  prince 
of  Piedmont  in  the  year  1570,  in  conjunction  v/itli 
some  others,  implored  the  protestant  princes  to  inter 
cede  with  their  sovereign  on  their  behalf.   The  prince 
palatine  of  the  Rhine  exerted  himself  with  much  zeal 
on  the  occasion.  But  the  people  of  Barcelonette  being- 
obliged  to  leave  their  settlements,  amidst  a  choice  of 
difliculties  were  reduced  to  the  extremity  of  attempt- 
ing, in  the  midst  of  winter  to  pass  over  a  high  moun 
tain.  The  greatest  part  of  them  perished;  the  rest  re- 
tired into  the  valley  of  Fraissiniere. 

About  the  year  1370  some  of  the  waldensian  youths 
of  Dauphiny  sought  in  Calabria  a  new  settlement,  be- 
cause their  native  country  was  too  small  for  the  num- 
ber of  the  inhabitants.  Finding  the  soil  fertile,  and  the 
region  thinly  peopled,  they  applied  to  the  proprietors 
of  the  lands,  and  treated  with  them  concerning  the 
conditions  of  dwelling  there.  The  lords  of  the  countr}- 
gave  them  the  most  kind  reception,  agreed  with  them 
on  fair  and  equitable  terms,  and  assigned  them  parcels 
of  lands.  The  new  colonists  soon  enriched  and  fer 
tilized  their  respective  districts  by  superior  industry: 


474 

and,  by  probity,  peaceable  manners,  and  punctual  pay- 
ment of  their  rents,  they  gained  the  affections  of  their 
landlords,  and  of  all  their  neighbours.  The  priests 
alone,  who  found  that  they  did  not  act  like  others  in 
religion,  and  that  they  contributed  nothing  to  the  sup- 
port of  the  hierarchy  by  masses  for  the  dead,  or  by 
other  romish  formalities,  were  highly  offended.  They 
were  particularly  vexed  to  find,  that  certain  foreign 
schoolmasters,  who  taught  the  children  of  these  stran- 
gers, were  held  in  high  respect,  and  that  they  them- 
selves received  nothing  from  them  except  tithes,  which 
were  paid  according  to  the  compact  with  their  lords. 
From  these  circumstances,  the  priests  concluding  that 
the  strangers  must  be  heretics,  were  tempted  to  com- 
plain of  them  to  the  pope.  The  lords,  however,  with- 
held them  from  complaining  of  die  people.  "  They 
are  just  and  honest,"  said  they,  "  and  have  enriched 
all  the  country.  Even  ye  priests  have  received  sub- 
stantial emolument  from  their  labours.  The  tithes 
alone,  which  ye  now  receive,  are  so  much  superior  to 
those,  which  were  formerly  produced  from  these  coun- 
tries, that  you  may  well  bear  with  some  losses  on 
other  accounts.  Perhaps  the  country,  whence  they 
came,  is  not  so  much  addicted  to  the  ceremonies  of 
the  Roman  church.  But  as  they  fear  God,  are  liberal 
to  the  needy,  just  and  beneficent  to  all  men,  it  is  un- 
generous anxiously  to  scrutinize  their  consciences. 
For  are  tliey  not  a  temperate,  sober,  prudent  people, 
not  given  to  pleasures  and  excess  of  riot  like  others, 
and  in  their  words  peculiarly  decent?  and  does  anj^ 
person  ever  hear  them  utter  a  blasphemous  expres- 
sion?" The  lords  admiring  their  tenants,  who  were 
distinguished  from  the  inhabitants  all  around  by  pro- 
bity and  virtue,  maintained  and  protected  them  against 
their  enemies,  till  the  year  1560. 

In  all  this  the  fruits  of  godliness  among  the  wal- 
denses  were  apparent,  even  to  those,  who  knew  not 
the  nature  of  godliness  itself.  The  lords,  moved  by 
temporal  interest,  behaved  with  candour,  while  the 
priests,  who  felt,  or  thought  they  felt  their  interest  un- 


475 

dermined  by  these  strangers,  murmured  and  expressed 
their  indignation.  It  is  not  to  be  wondered  at,  that  the 
priests  of  idolatry  should  every  where  be  the  greatest 
enemies  of  true  religion.  It  is  nothing  more  than  the 
natural  effect  of  human  depravity.  Their  passions, 
through  the  medium  of  interest,  are  more  sensibly 
struck  at  than  those  of  others;  and  the  true  use  to  be 
made  of  such  events  is,  for  all  men,  laity  as  well  as 
priests,  to  learn  the  true  doctrine  of  the  fall  of  man, 
and  its  consequences.  The  Calabrian  waldenses  sent 
to  Geneva  in  the  year  1560,  to  request  a  supply  of 
pastors.  Two,  namely,  Stephen  Negrin,  and  Lewis 
Paschal,  were  sent  into  Calabria;  who  endeavoured  to 
establish  the  public  exercise  of  protestantism.  Pope 
Pius  IV.  having  notice  of  this,  determined  to  extir- 
pate a  people,  who  had  presumed  to  plant  lutheran- 
ism,  so  he  called  their  religion,  so  near  to  his  seat. 
What  follows  of  the  history  of  this  people  is  a  dis- 
tressful scene  of  persecution.  Numbers  of  them  being 
murdered,  by  two  companies  of  soldiers  headed  by 
the  pope's  agents,  the  rest  craved  mercy  for  them- 
selves, their  wives,  and  children,  declaring,  that  if  they 
were  permitted  to  leave  the  country  with  a  few  con- 
veniences, they  would  not  return  to  it  any  more.  But 
their  enemies  knew  not  how  to  show  mercy;  and  the 
persecuted  christians  at  length  undertook  to  defend 
themselves  from  their  invaders,  and  they  put  them  to 
flight.  The  viceroy  of  Naples,  hearing  of  these  things, 
appeared  in  person  to  prosecute  the  diabolical  business 
of  the  pope;  and,  in  a  little  time,  the  Calabrian  wai 
denses  were  entirely  exterminated.  The  most  barba- 
rous cruelties  were  inflicted  on  many;  some  were  tor- 
tured, in  order  to  oblige  them  to  own,  that  their 
friends  had  committed  the  most  flagitious  incests;  and 
the  whole  apparatus  of  pagan  persecution  Vv^as  seen  to 
be  revived  in  the  south  of  Italy. 

A  certain  youth,  named  Samson,  defended  himself 
a  long  time  against  those,  who  came  to  apprehend  him. 
But  being  wounded,  he  was,  at  length,  taken  and  led 
to  the  top  of  a  towTr.  Confess  yourself  to  a  priest  hert^ 


476 

present,  said  tlte  persecutors,  before  vuu  be  thrown 
down.  1  have  aheady,  said  Samson,  confessed  myself 
to  God.  Tln-ovv  him  down  from  the  tower,  said  the 
inquisitor.  The  next  day  the  viceroy  passing  below 
near  the  said  tower,  saw  the  poor  man  yet  alive,  with  all 
his  bones  broken.  He  kicked  him  wdth  his  foot  on  the 
head,  saying,  is  the  dog  yet  alive?  give  him  to  the 
hogs  to  eat. 

But  I  turn  from  a  scene,  where  there  is  nothing  but 
a  repetition  of  enormities,  which  have  often  been  ex- 
posed in  the  course  of  this  history,  and  which  equally 
show  the  influence  of  the  prince  of  darkness  and  the 
enmity  of  the  carnal  mind  against  God:  let  it  suffice  to 
add,  that  Stephen  Megrin  was  starved  to  death  in  pri- 
son, and  that  Lewis  Paschai  was  conveyed  to  Rome, 
where  he  was  burned  alive  in  the  presence  of  Pius  IV. 
That  tyrant  feasted  his  eyes  with  the  sight  of  the  man 
in  the  flames,  who  had  dared  to  call  him  antichrist. 
Paschal,  however,  was  enabled  to  testify,  in  his  last 
scenes,  from  the  word  of  God,  many  things  which 
much  displeased  the  pope;  and,  by  the  zeal,  constancy, 
and  piety,  which  he  displayed  in  his  death,  he  failed 
not  to  excite  the  pity  and  admiration  of  the  spectators. 

The  waldenses  of  Provence  fertilized  a  barren  soil 
by  their  industr}-,  but,  like  their  brethren  elsewhere, 
were  exposed  to  persecution.  An  attempt  was  made 
to  prejudice  the  mind  of  Lewis  XIL  against  them, 
about  the  year  1506,  by  such  calumnies  as  those,  with 
which  the  primitive  christians  were  aspersed.  The 
king,  struck  with  horror,  directed  the  parliament  of 
Provence  to  investigate  the  charges  and  to  punish 
those,  who  were  found  guilty.  But  afterwards  under- 
standing, that  some  innocent  men  vi^ere  put  to  death, 
he  sent  two  persons  to  inquire  into  the  conduct  of  this 
people,  by  whose  distinct  information  he  was  so  tho- 
roughly convinced  of  their  innocence,  that  he  swore 
they  were  better  men  than  himself  and  his  catholic 
subjects;  and  he  protected  them  during  the  rest  of  his 
reign.  Thus  the  candor,  humanity,  and  generosity  of 
that  monarch,  who  was  deservedly  looked  on  as  the 


477 

fiither  of  his  people,  was  providentially  instrumental 
in  the  defence  of  the  vvaldenses. 

Some  time  after,  these  Provencal  protestants  wrote 
a  letter  to  the  reformer  Qicolampadius  of  Basle,  which, 
as  a  monument  of  christian  humility  and  simplicitj^, 
well  deserves  to  be  transcribed.  "  Health  to  Mr.  CEco- 
lampadius.  Whereas  several  persons  have  given  us  to 
understand,  that  he,  who  is  able  to  do  all  things,  hath 
replenished  you  with  his  holy  Spirit,  as  it  conspi- 
cuously appears  by  the  fruits;  we,  therefor^,  have  re- 
course to  you  from  a  far  country,  with  a  stedfast  hope, 
that  the  Holyghost  will  enlighten  our  understanding 
by  your  means,  and  give  us  the  knowledge  of  several 
things,  in  which  we  are  now  doubtful,  and  which  are 
hidden  from  us,  because  of  our  slothful  ignorance  and 
remissness,  to  the  great  damage,  as  we  fear,  both  of 
ourselves  and  of  the  people,  of  whom  we  are  the  un- 
worthy teachers.  That  you  may  know  at  once  how 
matters  stand  with  us,  we,  such  as  we  are,  poor  in- 
structors of  this  small  people,  have  undergone,  for 
above  four  hundred  years,  most  cruel  persecutions, 
not  without  signal  marks  of  the  favour  of  Christ;  for 
he  hath  interposed  to  deliver  us,  when  under  the  har- 
row of  severe  tribulations.  In  this  our  state  of  weak- 
ness we  come  to  you  for  advice  and  consolation." 

They  wrote  in  the  same  strain  to  other  reformers,  and 
were,  it  seems,  so  zealous  to  profit  by  their  superior 
light  and  knowledge,  that  they  willingly  exposed  them- 
selves, by  this  means,  to  a  share  of  the  same  persecu- 
tions which  at  that  time  oppressed  the  lutherans,  so 
the  reformed  were  then  generally  called,  both  in  France 
and  through  all  Europe. 

CEcolampadius,  in  the  year  1530,  wrote  to  the  wal- 
denses  of  Provence,  to  protest  against  the  crime  of 
attending  the  mass  and  bowing  before  idols,  with 
which  some  of  them  were  infected;  showing  that  a 
public  declaration  of  making  satisfaction  for  the  sins 
of  the  living  and  the  dead  by  the  mass,  was  the  same 
thing  as  to  say,  that  Jesus  Christ  hath  not  made  suffi- 
cient expiation,  that  he  is  no  saviour,  and  died  for  us 

Vol.  III.  61 


478 

in  vain;  and  that,  if  it  be  lawful  for  us  to  conceal  our 
faith  under  ihe  tyranny  of  antichrist,  it  would  have 
been  lawful  to  worship  Jupiter  or  Venus  with  Diocle- 
sian.  These  admonitions  were  well  adapted  to  the  cir- 
cumstances of  the  waldenses;  for  they  soon  after  had 
large  occasion  to  practise  them.  Even  one  of  the  mes- 
sengers, who  brought  the  letters,  was  seized  in  his 
journey  at  Dijon,  and  condemned  to  death  as  a  luthe- 
ran.  In  the  parliament  of  Aix,  in  the  year  1540,  one 
of  the  most  inhuman  edicts  recorded  in  history  was 
pronounced  against  the  Provengal  christians.  It  was 
ordered  that  the  country  of  Merindol  should  be  laid 
waste,  and  the  woods  cut  down,  to  the  compass  of 
two  hundred  paces  around.  The  name  and  authority 
of  king  Francis  I.  was  obtained  by  surprize,  and  the 
revocation  of  the  edict,  which  he  afterwards  sent  to 
the  parliament  on  better  information,  was  suppressed 
by  the  persecutors.  The  murders,  rapes,  and  desola- 
tions were  horrible  beyond  all  description.  In  particu- 
lar, a  number  of  women  were  shut  up  in  a  barn  full  of 
straw,  which  was  set  on  fire;  and  a  soldier,  moved  with 
compassion,  having  opened  a  place  for  them  that  they 
might  escape,  these  helpless  victims  of  papal  rage  were 
driven  back  into  the  flames  by  pikes  and  halberts. 
Other  cruelties  were  practised  on  this  occasion  so  hor- 
rid, that  they  might  seem  to  exceed  belief,  were  not 
the  authenticity  of  the  accounts  unquestionable;  and 
he,  who  knows  what  human  nature  is  when  left  to 
itself  and  to  Satan,  knows  that  there  is  no  evil  of  which 
it  is  not  capable. 

In  justice,  however,  to  Francis  I.  a  prince  in  his 
temper  by  no  means  cruel  and  oppressive,  it  is  proper 
to  add,  that  being  informed  of  the  execution  of  this 
barbarous  edict,  to  which  he  had  with  great  precipita- 
tion given  his  name,  he  was  filled  with  bitter  remorse, 
being  now  at  the  point  of  death,  and  he  charged  his 
son  Henry  to  punish  the  murderers.  The  advocate 
Guerin,  however,  was  the  only  person,  who  was  pu- 
nished on  the  occasion.  He  was,  in  truth,  the  most 
guilty,  because  it  was  he,  who  had  suppressed  the 
king's  revocation  of  the  bloody  edict. 


479 

Those  who  had  escaped,  afterwards  by  degress  re- 
covered their  possessions,  and  taking  advantage  of  the 
edict  of  Nantes,  enjoyed  the  protection  of  government, 
in  common  with  the  rest  of  the  protestants  in  France. 

If  we  look  into  Bohemia,  the  country  in  which 
Waldo  ended  his  days,  we  find  that  the  waldensian 
churches  existed  there  in  the  fourteenth  century, 
but  that  they  had  been  broken  up  as  a  professing 
people,  when  the  hussites  (of  whom  hereafter)  began 
to  flourish.  The  hussites  were  later  than  they  by  two 
hundred  and  forty  years,  and  are  allowed,  by  their  own 
writers,  to  have  agreed  in  principle  with  the  walden- 
ses;  none  of  whose  writings,  however,  were  extant  in 
Bohemia  at  the  time  when  the  doctrine  of  Hus  was 
received  in  that  country.  So  completely  had  papal 
tyranny  prevailed!  but  providence  raised  up  other  wit- 
nesses. 

In  Austria  the  number  of  waldenses  was  exceed- 
ingly great.  About  the  year  1467,  the  hussites  entered 
into  a  christian  correspondence  with  them;  in  the 
course  of  which  they  gently  rebuked  them  on  account 
of  the  idolatrous  compliances  too  visible  in  their 
churches.  The  hussites  also  found  fault  with  them, 
because  they  were  too  solicitous  in  amassing  wealth, 
"  Every  day,"  say  they,  "  has  its  cares  and  afflictions; 
but  as  christians  ought  to  look  only  for  heavenly 
riches,  we  cannot  but  condemn  your  excessive  atten- 
tion to  the  world,  by  which  you  may  gradually  be  in- 
duced to  set  your  whole  heart  on  the  things  of  time 
and  sense."  This  looks  like  the  language  of  younger 
converts,  who,  having  not  yet  forsaken  their  "  first 
love,"*  are  apt  to  see  the  evils  of  a  worldly  spirit  in 
a  stronger  light,  even  than  older  and  more  experienced 
christians,  who  may  have  sunk  into  lukevvarmness.  It 
should  be, remembered,  that  the  hussites  were,  at  this 
time,  beginners  in  religion,  compared  to  the  walden- 
ses. These  latter  were,  however,  exposed  soon  after 
this  to  terrible  persecutions;  and  those  of  them,  who 

*  Rev.  ii. 


480 

escaped,  fled  into  Bohemia,  and  united  themselves  to 
the  hussites. 

In  Germany,  in  the  year  1230,  the  papal  inquisition 
oppressed  the  waldenses  with  peculiar  severity.  They 
were,  notwithstanding,  stedfast  in  their  profession;  and 
their  pastors  publicly  announced  the  pope  to  be  anti- 
christ, affirming,  that  if  God  had  not  sent  them  intoGer- 
many  to  preach  the  gospel,  the  very  stones  would  have 
been  raised  up  to  instruct  mankind.  "  We  give  not,"  say 
they,  "  a  fictitious  remission,  but  we  preach  the  remis- 
sion of  sins  appointed  by  God  himself  in  his  word." 
About  the  year  1330,  Echard,  a  dominican  monk,  an 
inquisitor,  grievously  oppressed  them.  At  length,  after 
many  cruelties,  he  urged  the  waldenses  to  inform  him 
of  the  real  cause  of  their  separation  from  the  church 
of  Rome,  being  convinced  in  his  conscience  of  the 
justice  of  several  of  their  charges.  This  was  an  oppor- 
tunity, not  often  vouchsafed  to  this  people  by  their 
enemies,  of  using  the  weapons  of  christian  warfare. 
The  event  was  Siiiutary:  Echard  was  enlightened,  con- 
fessed the  faith  of  Christ,  united  himself  to  his  people, 
like  Paul  he  preached  the  faith  which  once  he  destroy- 
ed, and,  in  the  issue,  was  burned  at  Heidelberg;  and 
the  christians  glorified  God  in  him. 

Raynard  Lollard  was  another  convert  of  the  same 
kind,  at  first  a  franciscan  and  an  enemy  to  the  walden- 
ses. He  was  taken  by  the  inquisitors  after  he  had  dili- 
gently taught  the  gospel,  and  was  burned  at  Cologne. 
From  him  the  wickliffites  in  England  were  called  lol- 
lards;  and  he  it  was,  who  instructed  the  English  who 
resided  in  Guienne,  in  the  waldensian  doctrine.  The 
connexion  between  France  and  England,  during  the 
whole  reign  of  Edward  III.  was  so  great,  that  it  is  by 
no  means  improbable,  that  Wickliff  himself  (of  whom 
more  hereafter)  derived,  his  first  impressions  of  reli- 
gion from  Lollard.  Princes  and  states  may  carry  on 
wars  and  negotiations  with  one  another;  while  HE, 
who  rules  all  things,  makes  every  event  subservient 
to  the  great  design  of  spreading  thekingdom  of  his  Son. 

Flanders  was  also  a  violent  scene  of  waldensian 


481 

persecution,  though  our  author  seems  to  know  little 
of  the  particulars.  From  another  writer*  it  appears, 
that  in  1163  some  of  the  waldenses  retired  from  Flan- 
ders to  Cologne.  Here  they  were  discovered  and  con- 
fined in  a  barn.  Egbert,  an  abbot,  disputed  with  them: 
three  were  burned;  and  a  young  woman,  whom  the 
people  would  have  spared,  threw  herself  into  the 
flames.  In  1183,  great  numbers  were  burned  alive.  A 
person  named  Robert,  first  a  waldensian,  afterwards  a 
dominican,  was  appointed  inquisitor  general  by  the 
pope.  This  man,  knowing  the  usual  places  of  con- 
cealment, burned  or  buried  alive  above  fifty  persons 
in  the  year  1236.  But  he  met  with  that  punishment 
in  this  life,  which  was  calculated  to  convince  him  of 
his  enormous  sin.  The  pope  suspended  him  for  the 
abuse  of  his  power,  and  condemned  him  to  perpetual 
imprisonment. 

Persecutors  in  Flanders  tormented  the  christians 
by  means  of  hornets,  wasps,  and  hives  of  bees.  The 
people  of  God,  however,  were  strong  in  faith  and  love. 
They  turned  the  scripture  into  Low  Dutch  rhimes, 
for  the  edification  of  the  brcthern;  and  they  gave  this 
reason  for  the  practice.  "  In  scripture  there  are  no 
jests,  fables,  trifles  or  deceits;  but  words  of  solid  truth. 
Here  and  there,  indeed,  is  an  hard  crust;  but  the  mar- 
row and  sweetness  of  what  is  good  and  holy,  may 
easily  be  disco\'ered  in  it."  A  peculiar  regard  for 
holy  writ,  amidst  ages  of  darkness,  forms  the  glory  of 
the  waldensian  churches. 

England,  because  of  its  insular  situation,  knew  less 
of  all  these  scenes  than  the  continent.  But  the  strik- 
ing narrative  of  the  sufferers,  in  the  time  of  Henry  II. 
which  has  been  recorded,  ought  to  be  added  to  the 
list  of  waldensian  persecutions.  No  part  of  Europe, 
in  short,,  was  exempt  from  the  sufferings  of  these 
christian  heroes.  Paris  itself,  the  metropolis  of  France, 
saw,  in  1304,  a  hundred  and  fourteen  persons  buined 
alive,  who  bore  the  flames  with  admirable  constancy. 

*  Brandt's  Hist,  of  the  Refor.  in  the  Netherlands. 


482 

Thus  largely  did  the  "  King  of  saints"*  provide 
for  the  instruction  of  his  church,  in  the  darkness  of 
the  middle  ages.  The  waldenses  are  the  middle  link, 
which  connects  the  primitive  christians  and  fathers 
with  the  reformed;  and,  by  their  means,  the  proof  is 
completely  established,  that  salvation,  by  the  grace  of 
Christ,  felt  in  the  heart  and  expressed  in  the  life,  by 
the  power  of  the  Holyghost,  has  ever  existed  from  the 
time  of  the  apostles  till  this  day;  and  that  it  is  a  doc- 
trine marked  by  the  cross,  and  distinct  from  all  that 
religion  of  mere  form  or  convenience,  or  of  human 
invention,  which  calls  itself  christian,  but  which  wants 
the  Spirit  of  Christ. 

*  Rev.  XV.  3. 


END  OF   THE   THIRD  VOLUME. 


Date  Due 

f  »o 

' 

n: 

f) 

iniijiFnijiifiijp  MMr 

liliiiiiiliii  I  ll  I       ^ 


iiijiililiHiilli; 


